Without Hannah Here
by justawaytolive
Summary: Smosh -Hannah Blaise, a 15 year old, lives with her brother, Ian Hecox. But when one day she disappears, Ian and his best friend, Anthony Padilla, must test the limits of their friendship, brotherhood, and courage when they go on an adventure to find her.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there! Thanks for checking out my story! Quick thing before you get started: As you can see, this is my first time ever publishing one of my works, so in the reviews, go easy :D But I would love to hear what you thought. I'll post more of the story if it's given a good thumbs up!**

**Oh, and just to say because everyone else who does these kind of stories does this, none of this is real, yadah yadah yadah, it's all fiction, yadah yadah yadah, all rights reserved, blah blah blah. OK! NOW to the story! Thanks for reading, and I sure hope you enjoy it :D**

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><p><strong><span>Hannah's Point of View<span>**

I took a final glance into the mirror. My auburn hair was straight down my sides, like always. With my mascara finally cooperating and not rubbing onto my cheek, I finished with my simple makeup. I looked down to my wardrobe. After fixing my collar of my yellow and black plaid shirt and buckling my belt to my black skinny jeans, I looked one last time and thought, _Well world. This is what you get. Take it or leave it._

I stepped in to the living room to find Anthony on the computer. Nothing out of the norm. I bid him a tired and unenthusiastic good morning, which he returned in the same fashion. Grabbing a bagel of the counter, I looked at the oven clock. It read 8:45. _Eh. _I thought. _I've got time. _I jumped onto the counter and chewed on the pastry while swinging my legs back and forth.

A voice sighed behind me. "Hannah," it complained. "Please get off the counter."

I turned to find my brother, Ian, walking in wearing his old jeans with holes and 'used' black t-shirt. _Just like any other Tuesday. No suit, no dress shoes. Just comfy clothes for editing, editing, editing. Well, I guess that's what you get to do when you make videos on YouTube for a living._

I did as my brother told me to. "Why are you so accustomed to sitting on the counter?" He asked. "There's a perfectly good table right over there!" He motioned to the table with random objects on top.

"Because I don't know what you do to that poor table when Anthony and I are out of the house." I motioned him to come over as I inspected the peculiar items. "Let's see, a nickel, shaving cream, lotion~" I smirked, and so did Anthony from across the room. "And peanut butter. Please tell us, Ian. What do you do when we're not here?" I glanced to the poor table. "Tsk, tsk. You poor baby." I pretended to give it a soothing stroke. "Your pain will soon be over."

Anthony laughed his cute little laugh in the other room. Ian just rolled his eyes and mocked him. He looked back at me with unamused eyes. "Haha, Hannah. You're hilarious. Don't you have to get going?"

I rolled my eyes and replied, "Yeah, yeah." I grabbed my messenger back, gave Ian a quick good bye kiss, and then told Anthony I'd see him later.

As I went to the door, however, something seemed….off. The door was ALWAYS locked in the morning. But today, it was unlocked. _That's odd. _I thought. _I'm the person in this house who leaves the earliest. Who went out before me?_ I shook it off and shrugged; must be nothing. I left the house, and caught up with my best friend Allison. We walked to school together like we do every day.

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><p>Finally, the last bell rang throughout the school. I sighed off relief when it did, for I was asked a question in my class, Pre-AP World History, that I had absolutely no idea. Just as I had taken a breath to give my best go, "BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!" <em>Wow…Saved by the bell!<em>

I quickly gathered up my belongings and packed them away. Trying to keep up with the crowd, I walked as I stuffed my giant binder into my small bag. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to keep up with the rushing pupils. After being pushed by a frantic freshman, I tripped over someone's foot that was sticking out into the hallway. I fell straight onto my face and all my stuff came tumbling out of my bag.

A few douche bag guys laughed and pranced along. "Dicks," I mumbled under my breath.

"Damn straight," Agreed a voice that I recognized immediately. _Oh. My. God. Jason McKeves. He's talking to me! Oh no! Did he see me trip?_

I slowly turned around and looked to see my thoughts were correct. Jason was standing high above me with his brownish-blonde hair and dark brown eyes looking down upon me. I froze for a moment, then quickly came out of my staring to pick up my things.

"No, please, let me." He said politely. He bent down to my level and helped. "Don't worry about those guys. Like you said, they're just dicks."

I laughed, and as we both stood up after everything was back in its rightful place I thanked him for his help.

He smiled that famous and perfect smile. "No problem," he reassured. He looked at me as if to try to remember something. "….It's Hannah, right?"

I smiled and nodded. _Holy shit! He knows my name! MY NAME!_

Jason sighed, relieved. "Oh good! I thought that was it. I just didn't want to sound stupid. So, how's it going, Hannah? I haven't talked to you in a while. How is your brother doing? I love Smosh!"

My heart fell slightly, saddened. I hated when people mentioned Smosh to me, especially if they were big fans. It made me feel as if that was all I was to them: The sister of that one guy on YouTube.

Apparently, my sadness was shown on my face without me realizing. "Oh, I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, blushing vigorously. "I shouldn't have said that. I should have known it's not really a thing to talk about, it not being 'your thing' and all."

_God, he's amazing. _I thought. _Read that right out of my mind. _I rushed to return an even bigger smile on my face. "Don't worry about it." I bolstered.

Jason paused at a moment, looking at me. Then he snapped out of it and said, "You know, we should get together sometime. Catch up."

I nodded energetically, maybe a little too energetically, "Yes, totally!"

Jason seemed surprised that I agreed. "Oh, ok, awesome! How about this Friday, at 6:00? We could go catch that new Sherlock Holmes movie together, if you're still into the mysteries." I told him that I was, and he grinned even bigger, thinking he nailed it. "Great!" Jason asked me for his number, so I took a pen right out of my bag and wrote it on his hand. He thanked me, then, out of nowhere, he leaned down (I was much shorter than him) and kissed me on the cheek. I blushed like a red tomato. When he finished, he said, "Can't wait for Friday. I really, really can't."

Jason pulled back and winked. Then he closed his locker, checked his watch and saw he was about to miss his bus. He quickly said good bye, and was off.

Thank God no one else was in the hallway at the time because at that moment, I fell backwards hitting the lockers, and slinked down to my knees. _It's about time, _I thought, _Thank. God._

Eventually, I picked myself off the grounded and headed out the big green doors of Palm West High School, but soon rushed back inside for I found it was pouring rain. _Ugh, I don't want to walk home when it's like this! _I took out my phone and texted Ian.

_Hey Ian. It's pouring outside. If you're not busy, can you come pick me up?_

Not a minute later, I received a response.

_Sure, be there in five._

I smiled and sat down against the wall. _See? Living with a stay-at-home worker eventually is worth it. Once you get passed the fact he's your protective and annoying big brother._


	2. Chapter 2

**Anthony's Point of View**

I heard a lot of yelling and swearing from Ian's room to mine. _Dear God, _I complained, _what is he doing now?_ I tried to ignore it and get back to editing, but the obnoxious sounds kept distracting me. After getting nothing done for ten minutes, I gave up and headed to his room.

I had entered a 'disaster zone', which was where ever Ian was when he was completely pissed off. Trust me; you did NOT want to be a mile near him when he was exploding. But I had to figure out what was going on. I knocked on Ian's door, but all that answered was more yelling. As I entered uninvited, I saw Ian pacing around the room, shouting at someone on my phone. _So that's where my phone went_.

"…So what can I do?" Ian paused as the phone replied. "I don't know why it's not working, you tell me!...Well looks like you just lost another customer, then. GOOD DAY TO YOU, SIR!" At the last part of the conversation, Ian's British background had shown through. Every time he did this, it sounded so foreign and not like him. I held back a laugh. "Ian, what's wrong? And why do you have my phone?"

"Well, I can't really use my phone, now can I?" He tossed his phone. I looked at him in confusion, but his motioned to the phone for me to look. I did, and saw that colors were flashing on the screen and high-pitched beeps sounded. "What happened?" I asked.

"I don't know." Ian sighed. "I turned it on today, and it just flipped out! I called my cell phone company, but they don't know what happened either. Go figure." He huffed.

I sighed and rolled my eyes back at him. "Ian, calm down. We'll get you a new phone soon, ok? Now, please just come with me and help edit Friday's video." I stared him down with one of my signature looks. At last, his shoulders relaxed and he gave in. Ian followed me into my room to work. After a few minutes, he loosened up and we made slow but definite progress. Time rolled by and minutes turned into hours. Life fell into boredom, and to make matters worse, it began to rain.

**Hannah's Point of View**

Right on time, a car pulled into the vacant parking lot. I began to walk towards it.

However, I realized it wasn't Ian's car. It was Anthony's. _Strange_, I thought, _I guess Ian sent Anthony to get me. _I shrugged it off and walked to the car. My phone rang, and I looked to see a number I didn't know. The area code was for around here, so I answered it.

"Hello?"

I heard a sigh of relief come from the other phone. "Oh thank God. It IS you."

_Jason! _My heart jumped with joy. I laughed. "Hi Jason. Why so relieved?"

"Eh, I was just making sure you didn't fake number me."

I blushed and grinned. "I never would do that, silly."

"I know," He said with a laugh. "I was just making sure. Hey, so I was wondering if maybe you would like to come over and help me with my Spanish homework. I'm pretty bad, and I heard down the grape vine that you have, like an A+ in it. Do you think you could tutor me?"

I was just about to respond 'yes' when I opened the car door. I stepped inside and smiled to Anthony as a greeting. But my smile quickly faded into nothing when I saw that it wasn't Anthony who was driving. It was a man wearing sunglasses that covered most of his upper face and a camouflage hat.

_Oh crap, _I thought. _Wrong car. _I started to climb back out of the car, but the man leaned in and grabbed my shoulder. I opened my mouth to scream at him to get the hell off of me, but I shut it as he reached into his pocket with his remaining hand and took out a gun. He pointed it at me and mouthed, _Hang up the phone, now._ Jason's voice rang on the phone. "Hannah? You there? Is everything ok? You know, you don't have to come over if~" But that's the last thing I heard from him as I promptly hung up.

My eyes widened at the sight of the gun. I could feel the color draw from my face. _Oh my god. _I thought. _He's going to mug me._ "I don't have any money with me." I choked, for it was the first thing that came to my mind to say.

"Get in the car." The man said in a mono-tone voice. I hesitated, getting ready to run. My body tensed. He cocked the gun. "Now."

I slowly sat back down and closed the door, looking straight ahead. The man took a quick look around and put the car into gear. He sped out of the look and onto the highway. As we drove away from the school, my neighborhood, and of the only place I knew, the man pointed kept the gun pointed at me. I was too terrified to even shift in my seat. I tried to remember ever turn we made to tell the police when I get out of here. IF I get out of here.

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><p><strong>OOOOOh! A cliff hanger! Those are always fun :D Don't forget to review, so I'll know if I should post more or not :D Thanks!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Hannah's Point of View**

I tried my hardest not to panic. _What do I do? What do I do? _I saw my phone was still in my hand however. But I knew if I tried to call 911, he would know. _What do I do? _"Put the phone in the cup holder." He said. _Damn. He read my mind. _I did what he said, and decided to begin a conversation. Perhaps it would sustain me for a little longer. Plus I would get to know something about him. I started with something simple and clear. "Where are we going?" I tried to ask with as much pleasure as I could muster.

"Somewhere." He is all he said. Obviously he wasn't going to give me anything. But at least he responded.

"What's your name?" I asked. _Might as well start off at the beginning._

"That's not important." He mumbled. "What is important is what your name is."

I found no reason to lie to him. "H-Hannah." I said, my voice accidently cracking. I cleared my throat to cover up my fear.

"Hannah what?" He shot back, with a little anxiety in his voice. His head shot to me.

"Blaise." I answered honestly.

"Good." The man answered with a sigh of relief. _Good? Why is that good?_ There was a silence for a moment, and then he asked me, "Why is it not Hecox?"

"What?" I questioned confused.

"Why is your last name not Hecox? Like your brother, Ian's?"

My eyes scrunched in bewilderment. "Because my mom had me after she remarried. Ian has a different dad than I do, although neither of us knows him." I paused for a moment then was surprised by something. "Wait, how do you know I have a brother named Ian? And that his last name is Hecox?"

'Smosh' was all he said.

My eyes slightly widened. _Oh my god, could I bribe him into taking me back? Worth a shot. _"Really?" I asked with as much interest as I could. He nodded slightly. "Well, if we turn around I could introduce you to Ian and Anthony, if you would like."

"No." He uttered. "I hate Smosh." _Aw fuck. _"I hate that those so-called comedians can make a living off of some stupid internet site, while the rest of us in this world have to work to support our selves and make it in this so-called goddamn 'land of opportunities!" With every word he said, his words got harsher and louder. Finally when he finished, he sighed to calm himself down. Then he looked back to the road, and continued to drive in silence.

I didn't say anything for the next twenty minutes. We eventually reached what I guessed was our destination; one of those place on the side of the road you can get out of your car, park, and enjoy the scenery. He parked, looked around with a few jolts of his head. When finished, he grabbed my phone from the cup holder and got out of the car, motioning me to come with him. We were the only people there except for one other car.

As I got out of the car, I looked around, partially trying to figure out where the hell we were, and to see if anyone else was here and if they could help me. I looked over to my left to see the other car, a small, beat-up black Audi. I couldn't see into the window. As far as I knew, the owner of the car could have ditched it.

The man walked slightly in front of where I walked. Oddly enough, he was texting on my phone. I began to wonder why, but then realized this might be my only chance. Out of nowhere, my feet took off below me and I sprinted toward the Audi. I heard the man yell and come after me. I panted as I ran for my life. I curved the Audi's back, glancing behind me to see where he was. The man had slowed down to a stop. Confused, but glad for my one chance, I gazed back in the direction I was heading.

Suddenly, I collided with an African-American man in a black suit I fell to the ground with a loud thump. All the wind was knocked out of me. The man I ran into leaned down and picked me up by my hair. I screamed and gripped my head. "Let go of me!" I cried, my voice echoing throughout the area.

"Is this the one?" The man who was handling said calmly. The man I drove here with finally caught up with us, panting. He nodded. "Good." The one in the suit grabbed his wallet and through a couple of hundred dollar bills onto the ground. This caused the other to pounce like an animal to the dirty terrain, rustle up the money, and run back to his car. But before he drove off, I saw my iPhone fly off the side of the gigantic cliff.

"No!" I screamed, knowing that was my last chance at getting someone to help me. He jumped into his car and drove away, his tires spewing on the ground.

Without a word, the man who grabbed hold onto my hair began dragging me back to the Audi. I screamed and kicked, trying my best to resist, but he was too strong. He began to grow tired of my ways, so he threw me onto the hard ground and took something out of his pocket. Slamming into the ground forced my head to jolt back, colliding onto the hard earth. Trying to get up, I rolled over on the ground, my vision slightly blurry, and looked up to see him putting a cloth to my mouth. I struggled to pull his hand off of me, but something from the cloth seemed to clog my lungs. I couldn't breathe. I coughed and coughed, and began to lose sight in my left eye. My legs became numb and stopped squirming around. The numbness crept up my body to my arms. They also stopped wriggling and fell from the man's large hand. My head pounded and my right eye was growing dark. The black of unconsciousness fell over me, despite my will to stay awake. My eyes fluttered, and after a long battle, I finally, finally gave in.

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><p><strong>Make sure to Reivew and stuff! I'll post more soon (well, I guess that depends if you guys are enjoying it or not, lol.)<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Ian's Point of View**

I stretched my arms and leaned to the back of my chair. I gave a slightly enthusiastic 'yeah!' and high-fived Anthony. "At last! We are free! Well, until tomorrow."

Anthony laughed and nodded his head. "True, very true. But until then, let's go grab some food." Suddenly, Anthony realized something. "Hey, I never heard Hannah come in? Is she here?"

Ian called her, but no response came. "I guess not. Text her, ask her where she is."

Anthony pulled out his phone. "Oh wait. Here's a text from her. She says she's over at Allison's house. She sent it about an hour ago. Let's go get her and go get pizza."

I smiled and teased, "Or Mexican food, or Chinese food, or 'Merican food, or….well that's it I guess."

Anthony laughed and got up, grabbing our old Flip camera behind him. _Never misses an opportunity, does he?_ We walked to my car and piled in. I drove out of the garage and a block to where Allison lived. Anthony volunteered to go knock on the door. I watched as he did, and Allison came and answered the door. Anthony said something, and then Allison looked back at him with a confused look. She shook her head 'no' and motioned toward the house. Anthony stopped for a second and then declined what Allison said. For what I was guessing was proof, he took out his phone, scrolled through something, then showed the phone to Allison. After reading it, Allison's mouth dropped open and her voice rose loud enough so I could hear it through my car window. It had panic and worry. _What the hell's going on?_

"What's wrong?" I asked the two of them as I walked up the steps to the McKlaine's house. "Why won't Hannah come out of the house?"

"She's not here, Ian." Anthony replied with a slightly mono-toned voice. I looked at Allison in rebuttal. She just stared straight back at me and slowly shook her head with her mouth slightly open.

"What do you mean she's not here?" I questioned to Anthony. He didn't respond, though I really didn't give him time to while I asked Allison, "Alli? Why isn't Hannah with you? She~"

"I know, Anthony showed me. She texted you guys saying she came home with me, but I swear she didn't. I haven't seen her since seventh block today, in Spanish. I never saw her after school, so I have no idea why she told you that."

I grueling pain filled my empty stomach. I felt like someone had just kicked me, knocking all of the wind out. If I had eaten before hand, I would have definitely thrown up, right then and there. "So . . . you don't know where she is?"

Allison had tears in her eyes. "No, Ian. I don't. It's not like her to just… flat-lie to you guys; to anyone for that matter. And she never goes home with anyone besides me. No one else that goes to Palm West lives in this neighborhood, and she doesn't know any Juniors or Seniors that well to get rides."

Anthony broke the pause after Allison. "Ian, something's wrong. Very wrong."

I glanced at Anthony with disbelief. _No, nothing's wrong. She's just….Hannah is at…._. "Nothing's wrong. Hannah's just…. Gone off somewhere, that's all." I denied.

"But she wouldn't~" Allison started, but a look from Anthony shushed her. "Alright then," Anthony continued. "We should go to look where she's run off, shouldn't we?"

I nodded at a snail's pace, and we headed to my car. I heard off in the distance Allison calling to her mom that she was going with us, and cutting her mom off in the middle of her reply. Anthony jumped into the driver's seat before I could, but I wasn't offended. Anthony knew I was in sort of a dazed state, and it wouldn't be a smart idea for me to drive. I sat down quietly in the passenger seat with Allison in the back, and did something that was actually quite sane for my dream-like state. I called Hannah. At first, the phone didn't even ring. Eventually, all I heard was a fast beeping sound, like the one you get when the phone lines are down. But this one was faster. Anthony peeked at the confused look on my face. "What?"

Without a verbal response, I turned on the speaker of my phone to let the fast sound continue. Anthony's eyes closed, trying to contain his disbelief and frustration. "W-what, Anthony? What does that mean?"

Anthony sighed and replied, "That fast beeping sound means that something's wrong with Hannah's phone. It might not be accepting calls or completely broken, I'm not sure." I could've sworn Anthony said something like, 'I don't know if they can track it if it's broken' under his breath.

"What was that last part?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." He turned out of our small neighborhood onto the highway, making the way to Palm West. We had to start somewhere.

**Anthony's Point of View**

My recently called list had just one person on it: Hannah. It blinked 32 times, notifying how many times we'd called her number, hoping the fast beeping would turn into her voice, telling us where she is. But the response was the same, unemotional robot everytime.

I looked at the time. It was 11:17. Ian, Allison, and I had been looking for her for over five hours. Where the hell was she? Dear God, where was she?

Allison had gotten a call from her mother, demanding an explanation for all of this. Once she was given one, her tone completely changed from anger to sadness and fear. We all knew Hannah running away by herself or someone else was a totally inaccurate explanation. She wouldn't do it. Something bad happened today on her way home from school. Something very bad. I felt it on the bottom of my heavy heart. Allison handed me the phone and told me her mom wanted to speak with me. _Oh fuck. _ I thought. _I really don't need her to bitch at me right now. _I suppressed a groan and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Anthony! Oh my god, dear, are you alright?" She cried frantically.

_Wait, what? That was NOT the reaction I was thinking of. I thought she was going to scream at me for having Allison out so late. _"Um, yes, Mrs. McKlaine, I'm fine." Then I quickly added, "So are Alli and Ian."

She sighed of relief. "Thank heavens. What happened, Anthony? Where's Hannah? Allison said that you don't know where she is and you all have been looking for her. It's not like her to run off."

_I know, I know! We have established that! Get with the program! _"I know. We don't know what happened, ma'am. Ian and I have no idea."

"Should I call the police, then?" Questioned Mrs. McKlaine.

This hit me like a ton of bricks. We really do need police enforcement. Hannah is really missing. Oh my god, Hannah's missing. What could've happened? Who could've….taken her?

"Anthony?" She asked when I didn't respond to make sure I was still on the line.

"Y-Yes. Please do."

"Alright, I will." She abruptly hung up. I slowly pulled my phone from my ear, shocked.

"What?" Allison saw my facial expression as I handed the phone back to her.

"Well, Alli," I started, suppressing a tear. "Your mom just called the police about Hannah. They're going to help us find her."

"No," Alli began putting her hand to her mouth. "She can't be gone. Anthony, she's not a missing person. She's just…" A tear fell from her eye.

Trying to comfort her, I hugged her and kissed her on the top of her head. "Don't worry, Alli. We'll find her, I promise." I pulled away and smiled slightly. "Now, let's get you home."

_**Ian's Point of View**_

After Anthony and Allison hopped back into the car, we drove her home in silence. Once we got there, Mrs. McKlaine stood on her porch waiting for us. In her hand was the telephone and she wore a blue robe and slippers. Her face was filled with worry, but softened slightly when we drove into the driveway. Allison quietly got out of the car and walked to her mom. Mrs. McKlaine said something, not looking Alli in the eyes when she did. When she finished, Alli nodded and went into the house as he mother told her to. Mrs. McKlaine took a very deep breath then walked over to our car. Anthony and I politely got out and went to speak with her.

"I called them," she began, talking about her phone call with the police station. "And they said that because she hasn't been missing for 24 hours, Hannah is technically not a missing person. Call back tomorrow when 24 hours has passed."

Anthony nodded, looking down. I sighed and said, "Alright, Mrs. McKlaine. Thank you for all your help." She nodded and her lip quivered. She jumped on me, giving me the biggest hug. "I'm so sorry, Ian. I'm so sorry. But I promise. We. Will. Find. Her."

I hugged her back, not saying a word. Once the hug dispersed, Anthony and I walked back to the car and I drove home. Once there, I headed inside to the empty house and plopped onto the brown leather couch. My head fell into my hands. Anthony came over and sat down next to me. He rubbed at patted me on the back and said soothingly, "Ian, look at me."

I looked up and half-smiled. "I promise you, Ian. I promise you. Hannah will come home."

"Anthony. Hannah, my own sister, she's the only one I have left. Her and you are my only family. I-I can't lose her too." I held in my tears, but couldn't control the flow. My eyes began to water.

"Aw, Ian." Anthony began as he pulled me into a hug. It'll be ok." We didn't move for quite a while, and I'm sure if someone else walked in at that moment, we would've looked full-out gay, but I didn't care. I just needed my best friend, my brother, right there with me. And thank God he was.

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><p>There's Chapter 4! Yeah I know, a little boring. But some chapters have to be so the next one can be AWESOME! You'lll see :D (MUHAHAHAHAHA)<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

**Ian's Point of View**

I gave up on sleeping. Every time I closed my eyes, pictures and mini-movies of Hannah popped into my head. After three hours of staring at my white ceiling, I huffed, slammed my hands down to the bed by my sides, and shuffled out of bed. I began to walk to the kitchen for a glass of water, but something caught my eye; Hannah's bedroom. I stopped in mid-step and turned to her room. I walked in and turned on the light. I smiled.

Everything was just the way Hannah always had it; clean and under control. Probably one of the best parts of having Hannah as a sister AND a roommate was her cleanliness. Even Anthony wasn't as clean as she was, and he's OCD. All the clothes were put away in paper white drawers, which were completely shut with nothing hanging out. Her bed with the mint green comforter was in proper place and her brown teddy bear that she's had for years was placed in the middle. Everything was the exact way it would be if Hannah was home; everything except her sleeping soundly in her bed.

Something caught my eye, however. In the corner of the room, her cello which she's had since she was six, was opened. To Hannah, that cello was her new born child. She always put it away in the correct spot in the case according to the books. And when she forgot to, Hannah would text whoever was home and ask them to put it away CORRECTLY. I walked over to the instrument and spent a long time slowly placing it in the case. I inspected over my finished product and decided it was up to 'Hannah standards'.

Wow, I had forgotten how far that cello went back with our family. My mom had given Hannah the cello on her sixth birthday. Mom had been diagnosed with cancer a few months before, and, I couldn't tell then but I knew now, that she knew her life was going to be shortened to a couple years. Mom wanted Hannah to carry on something I couldn't do; music. Being a talented violinist, Mom tried to convince me to pick up piano, but after a few lessons we realized the music world wasn't for me. But when Hannah came of age to appreciate music, Mom decided to try her luck again. At first, Mom thought of getting Hannah to play the violin, but found that as small as Hannah was, her fingers were long and seemed to fit cello standards. That, plus the fact that a little girl three feet tall looked so damn cute next to a gigantic cello.

I remember that party perfectly. Hannah was so excited for her present. I groaned and turned to my mom. "Ok, I get that you had to get her something musical to start with, but why not something easy for the rest of us to listen to, like the piano? That way if she's not really good at it, it won't sound that bad."

"Now, Ian," she started. "Give her a chance. Who knows? Maybe some of my string genes rubbed off on your sister, hm?"

Turns out it did. She wasn't a natural in the beginning, but Hannah quickly improved and became rather good. Whenever she got home from school, Hannah would practice. Really any spare time she had, practicing swallowed it up. I still joked with my mom though about that dumb cello, and how Hannah became so obsessed with it, it practically took over her life.

One of the last days I saw my mom, I was visiting her in the hospital. Hannah was early 9 and I was just beginning college with Anthony in our new house (the same one that we live in today) at 18. Hannah was at school and I had taken the day off of work and missed my 8:00 classes because I heard my mom wasn't doing well. I knew when I saw her lying so sick in that hospital bed that I was very close to saying good-bye. We were talking, and out of nowhere, my mom asked me if Hannah was still on that cello. I responded, "Of course she is. Every day, Mom."

"Ian", she whispered, her voice very hoarse. "There's something I need you to promise me." I shook my head vigorously in response. She sighed and continued. "We both know that I don't have much time left."

Tears began to fill my eyes. I was sadly waiting to hear t his for so many long years. "Yeah, mom. I-I know". She stroked my cheek as a tear dripped down.

"Ian, you must promise me right now that you'll never let Hannah put that goddamn cello down." she smiled slightly.

I couldn't help but laugh a little. I nodded in reply. "What else?"

Her face turned slightly more serious. "You know I'm leaving Hannah in your care, right?"

My eyebrows went up. Well, I guess I had supposed, but it never really came to my mind. "Oh. Well, yeah I guess.

Mom looked me straight in the eye. "Promise me right now that you will raise her right and always be a brother AND a parent to her. Protect her, Ian."

I looked her straight in the eye. "Mom, I promise you."

. . . . Well, looks like I kept one out of the two promises. The optimistic side of me still held the small hope that Hannah was just at an overnight color guard trip that I forgot or something of that matter, but the pessimistic and more realistic side seemed to shoot down every possibility. My eyes began to flood again. This time I let the tears fly out. I cried and cried, but I kept my voice down for Anthony.

Then I did something I had not done freely since i was a child. I went on my knees, put my hands together and upright, and prayed.  
><em><br>. . . .God?  
>Um, hi, I guess. Yeah, it's Ian. I know we haven't, like, 'talked' in a while, but I'm... So lost and I just need someone to talk to. Hannah's missing, and I know it's only been a day, but you know too that she doesn't do stuff like this. Something's happened, and I'm terrified. Please, God, help her. Keep her safe. I promise I will do my best to bring her home if you just keep her under your wing. Give my mom a kiss, tell her I love her, and that...well that I'm sorry for not keeping my promise.<em>

I reopened my eyes to see nothing but the plain old ceiling. I don't know if I was expecting a miracle or whatever, or for Hannah to be standing right in front of me yelling "surprise!", but i felt like the past five minutes I spent praying were wasted. Nothing happened, nothing changed. My frown grew bigger. That explains why I haven't done that since I was six. It doesn't help.

I rolled my eyes and stood back up. I was about to leave when my foot knocked against something that was lying next to Hannah bed. Her color guard flag. I promptly picked it back up and leaning it against the bed. And because of my fantastic luck, it slid against the wall and fell behind the bed. I cursed my shitty luck and reached over the base board of the bed and place it up again. When it finally stayed in place, I began to slide off her bed. My hand slipped off the base board and my face hit the pillow. It was so soft and I was suddenly extremely tired. I sighed and closed my eyes. I did not want to get my lazy ass up to get to my own bed. Hannah's bed was so soft and comfy, and as creepy as it sounds, it SMELLED like her. I tried to open my yes but they felt glued shut. Finally I gave in and fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hannah's Point of View**

I awoke when I was thrown and collided with the hard and dirty floor of the cell. My eyes opened with a pop and I saw a man dressed in a blue guard outfit slammed the cell door shut. I shot up to try to escape, but I could only go three feet due the shackle that bound me to the wall. _Fuck._

Out of nowhere, a feminine voice spoke from the darkness. "Yeah I tried that my first time too. Worked out just as well."

Surprised and frightened, I almost let out a squeal when a hand shot at me and covered my mouth. "Shh!" commanded the voice again. "Are you insane? I know you're new and all, but really! If you scream, we'll both be in a shit load of trouble."

Once I calmed myself down, the hand pulled away. "who are you?" I asked.

Something stepped out of the darkened corner to the center of the cell. An Asian girl about my age with long dark hair that reached down her back and ratty old clothes appeared. "I'm Olivia." she replied, extending her hand. "Hannah." I said, shaking her hand.

"Oh I know who you are." Olivia told me with a smirk on her face. I gave a confused glance. "Smosh." she explained. I nodded. Again, I hated being only known by the comedy duo, but right know, I could have cared less.

"So," Olivia continued, sitting down Indian style. "What did you do?"

"Sorry?"

"To get in here with me," Olivia clarified. "From what I've deduced, each girl here is matched with a cell mate that fits their same qualities. I put up and damn good fight when I was taken. I take it that you did the same?" I nodded. Olivia smiled, obviously happy for her preciseness, but she didn't say so. "I'm also he because I tried to get out, and I guess that they thought you were going to do the same." When she saw my face light up when she said 'escape', Olivia frowned and shook her head 'no'.

"Don't even think about it." she continued. "Trust me, I know from experience. You will not get far and it is not worth the possible consequences." Olivia turned around and lifted her shirt. I saw slash marks all across her back that were long and thin. They looked like they were from a whip. I winced when I saw them. After a second to let it sink in, she turned back around.

"Yeah, I wouldn't if I were you. Anyway, I also suppose your here with me because they want you to be skinny. I've been on this special diet since I've been here for the same reason." I looked down at myself (with my black jeans looking brown with all the dirt and my shirt crumpled up with the right shoulder ripped) with even more self-consciousness. "Oh, don't worry Hannah." Olivia told me reassuringly. "You are totally fine. They just want you super skinny, see? Like anorexic skinny."

I became frustrated. "You keep saying 'they'. Who is 'they'?"

"The rotten bastards that run this place. The business here."

My stomach jumped. "What business?"

Olivia sighed. "I don't know. All I know is every time someone comes in that door, they are here to either give us food or to take one of us away." When I showed a sign of interruption, Olivia quickly answered the question she knew I had. "I don't know where. All I know is whoever does go comes back. But a few days later, they leave again and never come back. Well, never come back here at least."

When Olivia finished, I had only one more question. "How do you know all this?"

Olivia paused for a moment, and then said, "Knowledge is passed down through the girls that have been taken. Each one has the specific duty to tell the newbies what's what." She smiled, "Funny, I asked the same question when if first got here too."

I felt like it wasn't any of my business, but I was compelled to know. "Which was when, exactly?"

With a sad face, Olivia stood up and worked over to the wall next to me. It had dirt markings of lines on it (I guessed from the dirt on the ground). Line pairs were in four, the fifth one was crossed over all four. I counted all of the line pairs, which added up to seven. Olivia had been here for over a month.

Olivia and I talked for quite a while (what else were we supposed to do?). After a while, I figured it was around six o'clock, for guards were walking by, handing out food on silver trays. The cell across from us received their meal. Looks like we're next. But the guard left the hallway. I figured he had left to get more food, but he never came back.

"Don't get your hopes up." I heard Olivia say in the background. I turned to her. "Like I said, you and I are on a 'special diet'. Andy by that I mean e get meals about three times a week."

"A week?" I asked, flabbergasted. Olivia nodded sadly and went back to picking at her nails. I went over to the corner, bored and hungry.

I eventually gave up on drawing in the filth and decided sleep would make time move faster. As it tried to dose off in the small brown-with-dirt cot Olivia let me share with her, I kept waking up to the sounds of the building. Screams and cries of terrified girls rang, but were silenced by a whipping sound, followed by a sly whimper. Every noise stabbed my senses, keeping me awake. Tears rolled down my cheek. All I wanted was to not have to go through what those girls were. More of, I just wanted to go home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Anthony's Point of View**

I barely slept the past few nights. It was hard to when I kept dreaming about Hannah. I opened my crusted and tired eyes to look at the clock. It read 10:30. Ian and I had to be at the the police precinct in thirty minutes. _Shit_, I thought, _I could've sworn I set my alarm last night for 9:00._After checking my phone for the mistake, I saw the alarm didn't save. Damn iPhone.

As I threw on my jeans and stripped sweatshirt, I heard a small cough ring from the kitchen. Looks like Ian was already up. I felt a little hurt and angry that he didn't wake me up, but I quickly throw the feelings out. I had to cut him some slack. His sister was declared a missing person yesterday. And after seeing him asleep in her bed, I figured he was just trying to find a way to cope. Me? I was just not letting myself stop working to worry. Although Hannah and I were not related by blood, I had known her since I was eleven, when Ian and I met. We grew up with each other, and as I began to be brother-like with Ian, which came with being sister-like with Hannah. So although Ian didn't the so, I felt the similar loss he was.

"Hey, man." I said as I walked into the kitchen. Ian looked up and smiled softly. "Hey."

"Ready to go?" I asked him, grabbing a pop-tart to go.

Ian sighed heavily and nodded. I gave him a warm pat on the back for comfort and lead him out to the car.

* * *

><p>"I'm Detective benison and this is my partner, Detective Connors." as we walked in to the police precinct, two people greeted us at the entrance. One was a woman, the other a tall man. The woman had brown short hair and was relatively short and the man was very tall and slightly chubby. They both had suits on and wore a gold badge on front of their jackets.<p>

"Nice to meet you, Anthony Padilla." I responded, introducing myself to Detective Benson, the women, and shook both her hand and Detective Connors. Ian did so afterwards. "Good morning and thank you, I'm Ian Hecox."

"Yes, please sit." said Connors impatiently, motioning to the chairs sitting against the wall. All four of us sat down and Detective Benson took out a notepad. "Alright, it was declared yesterday that-" Detective Connor looked over Benson's shoulder to the notepad. "-Hannah Marie Blaise was a missing person, correct?"

I glanced at Ian. He deeply breathed and nodded.

"Ok," continued Detective Benson, who tapped her pen on the notepad, "We're going to need some information, ok? So I'm just going to ask you a few questions."  
>To be honest I thought Ian was going to tell the detectives that he wasn't five years old and didn't need t be treated like one. But surprisingly enough, he seemed to calm down after she spoke. He answered the questions the detective asked easily and (calmly), even though I saw it pained him to. After what seemed like an eternity, the last question was asked. "Does Hannah own a phone?"<p>

Random question to ask. "Um..Yeah.". She asked for the number, and I gave it to her. "What's this all about?" I asked

"We are able to track phones. If we find the phone, it gives more hope in finding her." _Of course, why didn't I think of that?_ "Is there any way we can contact you if we find it or discover something?"

Ian spoke up, "yeah, you can have Anthony's phone number. I would give you mine, but it's not working. I don't know why."

A spark went off in Benson's eyes. "Can I see it?"

Ian looked at me, and I shrugged. He took the disaster phone from his pocket and handed it over. Connor and Benson grabbed it simultaneously and tapped on it. Like before, it spazed out, colors flying around and static showing through the screen.

Something confused and bewildered both of the detectives. They looked at each other, eyes wide. Fast as lightning, Detective Benson ran to the circular desk that sat in the middle of the precinct. She asked the secretary for something, then was handed a folder. As Benson walked back, she was flipping furiously through the file. Once she sat back down' she found what she was searching for. Connor grabbed the file rudely from the other detective and looked over it as well. He gasped and whispered, "Oh dear god."

I couldn't take it anymore. "What. What is it?"

"Have you heard of Sarah Malone?"Connor asked.

"You mean the girl that disappeared about three months ago?"

He nodded. "Well, we had her parents out here at the precinct too, when she went missing. We asked for the father's phone number, just like we did to you, and the phone showed the exact same problems. Phones being a big bother, usually they go wonky. But the way the phone just acts like it's been tampered with. It is just too weird for both girls to go missing in a similar way and for both phones to acts so strange in the same ways."

I stared at Ian and he stared back. "So," I breathed, breaking the silence. "Could there be a connection between the two disappearances?"

"I don't know. But we're going to use the information from the Malone case and your information to find out. Connor and I will start with locating her phone, and go from there."

Ian and I thanked the detectives. They stood up, told us they would keep in touch, and then abruptly left, leaving us awkwardly standing there. Ian looked at me, shrugged, and then led me back to the car.

We drove home in silence, both of us not really knowing what to say. Once we got back to our small white Californian home, I parked the car and got out. Ian rushed inside, either having to pee really badly or was really emotional. My money was on the second option. That was really hard in the both of us, but I was proud of Ian for holding his feelings in until.

I went to go get the mail from the compartment box at the front of our yard. I looked over the packages. Bills, bills, and more bills. Once I locked back our slot, I began to walk inside when I heard my name called by an unfamiliar voice. "Anthony? Or well, Mr. Padilla?"

I turned around to see a boy about Hannah's age with short brown hair and big blue eyes staring back at me at the end of our driveway. "You can call me Anthony, it's cool." he seemed to become less tense and walked up to me. We shook hands and he introduced himself. "My name is Jason McKeves, I'm a-". He paused for a second, apparently choosing his words carefully. "-friend of Hannah's."

I responded, "Oh. Well, nice to meet you Jason. I haven't seen you around before; do you live in the neighborhood?"

"No," Jason said. "I live in river crest."I nodded in understanding. So he lived in the neighborhood next to us. Weird, I thought. If he's a friend of Hannah's, why hasn't she ever hung out with him, and why have I not met him. "I see," I finally acknowledged. "So what can I do for you, Jason?" I said.

Jason seemed nervous to talk to me. It seemed he was choosing his words very carefully. Either he was always like this, or he was trying to make a good impression. "I just wanted to say...I'm heard about Hannah, and I'm very, very sorry. I know I just met you, and I haven't even talked to Ian yet, but I'm...very close to Hannah. I pray her safe return and for you and Ian to be under god's grace until she comes home. I just wanted to let you guys know that."

I was shocked. No one, besides my family and the (Allison's family) had really given their condolences. If they did, it was brief, quick and you could see the awkward feeling in their faces. But Jason was so considerate, and I could see in his eyes that he really did feel so sorry. And he was worried; not for Ian, not for me, but truly worried for Hannah. "Thank you, Jason. Thank you."

Jason shyly smiled and looked to the ground. "Listen," he said as he looked back up. "If there's anything I can do to help, please, let me know."

I nodded and he said good-bye, and left. I went back to the house_. Jason_, I thought, _He's pretty cool. Not ugly, either. I wonder..._


	8. Chapter 8

**Hannah's Point of View**

Two weeks dragged by. I smelled disgusting, I was exhausted due to the la of sleep I got, and I swayed and felt light-headed every time I stood up, for I only had six meals in fourteen days.

The only thing that made this bearable was having Olivia there. She reminded me a lot of Allison. Olivia had the same sense of humor as Allison, and was just as good company. However, everyday Olivia acted even stranger than the before. She kept checking the wall that dated how long we've been there. She sighed and grew more anxious every time she drew a line. Eventually, I asked her what was up.

"Liv?" She turned around from the wall slowly. "Hm."

"Are you ok? You've been looking at that wall a lot lately"

She suddenly looked very guilty. "Liv," I asked. "Is there something you're not telling me? Please tell me. Promise I won't be mad."

Olivia took a deep breath in. "Alright. You know how I told you how a girl leaves once, then comes back?"

"Yeah, and then they leave again, and never come back. I know. What does that have to do with you?"

"Hannah, there's something haven't told you. A day before you came here, I was taken out for the first time. So they're coming back in a few days. I just don't know when. I...I'm worried. I'm scared."

I hugged her. "It'll be ok, Olivia. I promise. And I know. I'm scared too." We were silent for a moment, and I finally gained the courage to ask her. "What happens the first time?"

Olivia pulled away with a confused expression her face. She began to think very hard. "I've been trying to remember, but just can't. I think I was drugged during... Whatever it was, that's why I don't know. I'm sorry."

I tried to hide my disappointment. "I don't care, Olivia. It's alright." I smiled and she did as well.

We went back to our game of tic-tac-toe in the dirt. But once the last guard ended his patrol throughout the hallway, we sighed of relief and smiled to each other. It was part of the routine that eventually came to be. After the guards made their second rounds in the night, they didn't come through our hallway for about thirty minutes, which meant Olivia and I had about thirty minutes to have as much fun in the little pig pin as possible. What did this mean? Usually charades, with the guards' personalities. I was up first.

I made half off my face smirking and the other half droop. I slumped around the cage and made my right leg limp. "Wait you want to give the girls food? I thought they already had some. I just fucking gave them some!" I whispered in a hoarse old man voice. "Oh wait, I gave the food a week ago. Sorry I've just been so hangover since then, ya know? Damn dime just flies!"

Olivia held her mouth to keep herself from laughing. "Alcoholic aged arty?" she guessed with a grin while using one of our nicknames we came up with. I suppressed a laugh and nodded. "Too easy!" she complained. "Do another one!"

I thought for a moment then began again. "Ok, guess this one. But it's not a guard."

"Alright," she said cautiously, "hit me." I put my hands on my hips and made a really annoying and obnoxious face. In same fashion, I said with a nasally voice, "Ugh, I, like, hate it here! I wanna go home! Olivia-a!" I stomped my foot. "Make them stop coming in here! I want my privacy-uh!"

Olivia cracked up. "My old cell mate, Shannon.". I laughed and nodded my head. Although she had won, I got carried away and kept acting like the irritating girl. "It's all about me, me, me!" I sang, rolling around my butt and strutting around the room. "I should have people waiting On me right now!" Olivia was throwing a fit of laughter. I jumped up on the small cot and jumped up and down. Olivia slowed down her laughter, "Careful, Han." She warned. "Remember, you have a chain on your ankle. Don't trip over-"

I interrupted her warning with more of my impersonation of Shannon. "Ohmehgod, guys! I like looooove sleepovers, don't you?" I continued jumping all over the bed while flailing my legs everywhere.

"Hannah, stop! Your ankle chain is-!" but before she finished, I flew off the bed. But without my knowledge, the chain that shackled my ankle to the wall was caught on the railing of the bed. As the rest of my body was flying through the air, the chain pulled my leg back to the bed. My upper body collided with the hard ground, forcing my head to knock on the floor. A kur-plunk rang through the cell, but what was louder was my scream. My ankle was tugged back by the chain, and I heard a loud pop, then a crack.

Olivia rushed over from her spot and covered my mouth from my cries. My tears ran down her tears as she shushed me, trying to calm me down. I tried with all my might to keep control of myself, but my ankle felt like it was on fire. It stung and felt hot at the same time. Pain seemed to ooze from it. It hurt like nothing had every hurt before.

Suddenly, the doors to the cell flew open and collided with the brick wall. A guard ran in and pushed Olivia to the side of the wall. He grabbed me and yelled in my face, "Shut up, you fucking cunt!" I could smell the alcohol in his breath. As much as I tried to do just that, his disgustingness and my fear just made me cry harder. Finally, he gave up on talking me out of it. He threw me to the floor and pushed me onto my back. I squirmed around to get out from under his grasp. To stop me, he stomped his boot onto my head. He lifted up my shirt and pulled out his whip he kept in his side belt. Olivia gasped, but remained in the corner of the room.

I closed my eyes and let the tears silently fall. I braced myself for the whip to crack. When it did, my whole body spazed and my back went back and forth from blazing hot to ice cold. I hollered in pain, which made the man press down his foot on my head. Olivia was curled up in the corner, silent tears dripping onto the floor.

Eventually, I convinced myself to stop screaming and crying. And with that the whip stopped.

"Make anymore sounds and I swear to God it will be ten times worse than that, I promise you." The guard yelled after taking his foot off of me. He placed the whip back into his belt and started to leave. But before he did, the guard apparently felt like his job was unfinished. That feeling floated away when he planted his left foot on the ground and he used his momentum to punt my face with his right like a professional soccer player. My head was thrust in the direction of the kicking foot, and I gripped it with my hands. The man grinned an evil smile and then left. I heard the cell door slam, but didn't see it. Everything was all fuzzy. I felt like I was going to be sick. The last thing I felt was Olivia holding me and softly singing to me, trying to calm me down. I cried into her shoulder until everything went black.


	9. Chapter 9

**Ian's Point of View**

Once back in the house, time seemed to slow and blur. These past two weeks since the interview with the police seemed like months. I didn't eat, I couldn't sleep. I honestly felt like I was dying inside.

And I know Anthony could tell how I felt. He comforted me when I showed my feelings, but besides that he left me alone, just like I wanted. I was lucky to have someone like him in times like these. I was very lucky to have a person like Anthony in my life.

I tried to be as courteous to him as he had been to me; editing with him and staying involved in Smosh. And for most of the day I was, but every thirty minutes, like clockwork, I would call the missing persons' unit to see if they had any leads. Unfortunately, their response was like clockwork as well; every time they simply said they had nothing.

I hung up Anthony's phone (mine was with the police. They wanted to keep it for investigating) and rumpled my hair with my hands. _When will they ever find something? _I thought._ Are they even trying? Two weeks, it's been. Two whole fucking weeks, and nothing? _I let out a grunt of frustration and let my head fall onto the table.

Anthony must have heard me, for he walked in just a second later. "Looks like YouTube has changed its design… again."

Ok, apparently he didn't hear me grumble. "Really? Again?"

Anthony sighed. "Yup. Looks like I know what I'm doing tonight. Trying to figure it out."

I gave a quiet laugh. "Yeah, I guess." Anthony grabbed a Mountain Dew and walked over to the table. He motioned towards the phone. "Anything?" He asked almost inaudibly.

I shook my head. "Go figure." Anthony tsked. He began to walk back to his room when I stopped him. "Anthony?" I called.

"Hm." He mumbled turning around.

"Can I ask you something? If you answer, you'll have to promise it's the complete truth."

He walked backwards and sat down. I knew this meant that he promised and was listening. "What?"

I looked down at my feet, then asked him, "Do you think we're going to get Hannah back?"

**Anthony's Point of View**

Aw, shit. I knew this question was coming sooner or later. How do I answer something like this? I promised to give my complete honesty, and never once in my life have I broken a promise. Never. But, I can't tell him the real truth.

To be honest, I…..well, I lost hope in Hannah's return. Something told me she's gone.

"Ian," I began looking straight into his eyes. "I don't know. I'm being honest with you when I say that. I just don't know. But all we can do right now is hold our chins up, do everything we can to help out the investigation, and keep our faith. Pray to God that he will keep her safe and will bring her home."

To me, it sounded more like word vomit. That last part I have no idea why I said that. I grew up in a Roman Catholic family. My mom pretty much forced it all down my throat. I did not like spending the early Sunday mornings in the pew. I did not like praying before every meal. So once I moved out to live here in Sacramento, I barely thought about my religion. Hell, probably prayed once for the past four years. So the reason I pretty much preached to Ian is completely drawn from my mind.

To my surprise, Ian seemed quite affected by my 'sermon'. But not in the way that I was thinking. He kind of…revolted against my words. "I know, I know. Everyone should keep faith in God. But He can't do anything 'down here' can he? He's not going to bring Hannah home. As much as I wish he could, God can't magically poof her here. Yeah, I've prayed too, but nothing happened. I don't know, I just feel like I'm losing my faith in hi~."

Ian was interrupted by my phone, sitting on the table between us. He closed his mouth and leaned back in the chair. Looks like he was done with his protest. I answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Yes, this is the Sacramento Police Department, calling in the sake of Hannah Marie Blaise. Is this Anthony Padilla?"

My heart skipped a beat and flew ten miles high. "Yes, speaking. What is it? What about Hannah?"

"There's been a lead in the investigation involving Ms. Blaise's disappearance. Detectives Benson and Connors would like to speak with you and her legal guardian, Ian Hecox, as soon as possible."

"Yes, yes! We will be there as fast as we can!" I hung up the phone and grabbed Ian's arm right as he was asking me what the phone call was all about. I snatched my keys on the countertop and my jacket on the couch. "I'll tell you in the car!" I yelled, dragging him down the hallway to the garage. Ian tripped as he tried to get on his chucks on while I was dragging him throughout the house. By the time he got back up, I had already started the car and was pulling out of the garage.

Ian jumped through the door, panting. "Anthony Drew Padilla!" He yelled. "We are not going any other place until you tell me what the hell is going on!"

"Ian Scott Hecox!" I shot back with an anxious smile on my face. "What the hell is going on is there's been a lead at the station. They have a lead on Hannah."

Ian's eyes widened and he mimicked the smile on my face. "THEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING PARKED IN THE DRIVEWAY!" He screamed. "GO-GO-GO!"

And I did. In ten minutes, we arrived at the entrance door. It was awesome we got there in such great time, but what made me silently chuckle was the fact that on a day with no traffic, we would have gotten here in twenty minutes if I had actually followed the speed limit


	10. Chapter 10

**Yeah, yeah, I know. That last chapter was the least bit interesting...Which is why I posted another chapter today :D Since midterms ended yesterday, I've been spending alot more time doing important stuff (like writing) over stupid stuff like studying for midterms :DD yeaaah! So without further ado, Chapter 10!**

* * *

><p><strong>Anthony's Point of View<strong>

"Wait, you tracked the phone three days ago?" Ian yelled. "Why the hell didn't you call us?"

Detective Benson calmed Ian down and responded in a collected voice, "We didn't want to get anyone's hopes up. If we had traced the phone and it told us nothing, it would be a waste of time to even mention it."

"Wait, so you did find something then?" I interrupted.

"Yes," she continued. Out of her brief case, she pulled a hand drawn diagram of a side of a small mountain. "This is Bewmount Cliff, a road-side attraction about twenty miles from here. This is where her phone was traced." Detective Benson pointed toward the bottom half of the mountain. "The phone was traced here. Of course, it was completely cracked and broken, but we were at least able to find it."

"So the lead?" Ian asked very anxiously.

"While one of our investigators was there," Detective Connors persisted. "A black Audi and a black Honda Civic drove up around the same time. Because he was only an investigator and did not have any weapon or anything, he hid behind the rock that the phone was found. He was able to record the conversation he heard, however. Here it is."

_Wait, a black Honda Civic? _I pondered. _That's… my car. _I soon pushed the thought out of my mind. _Just a coincidence. _I convinced myself.

On the middle of the table we were all sitting at, Connors put in the center a small recording device. He hit play, and the room went silent as two voices began to speak.

_(Two car doors slammed)_

_I-I got your message, sir. _

_Obviously, you did. You're here._

_So-*cough* Wha-Is there anything I can do for you, sir?_

_Yes, the head of the management said they needed more recruits for the auction this Monday._

_There's another one Monday?_

_What can I say, business is booming. Anyway, we need more guards for security. I want you to recruit some._

_But why do they need more guards? What happened to all of them?_

_That is none of your concern. I would keep my ass in my own business._

_R-right. Sorry-erm, excuse me, sir._

_Just do what we say and save your apologies. Get me some men, maybe around twenty. Oh, and it would be best if they were white or Latino. Most of the guys there are already those races, so the more men that blend, the better. Have them here by Sunday morning._

_(Car doors slam and tires rip the gravel)_

The recording device turned off. "That was the end of the conversation." Benson concluded.

"I don't understand." Ian said. "What auction are they talking about?" I nodded my head in agreement.

The two detectives looked at one another. With a sigh, Benson looked over at us. "Based on our deductions between this conversation, the similarity between Hannah's case and Sarah's, and past cases concerning the same type of evidence, we can establish that the auction and business the two men talk about is a sex operation. We believe that Hannah will be sold into prostitution."

A silence filled the room. My heart went into my stomach. "Oh my god." I whispered. _Oh good God. I think I'm going to be sick._ With my mouth hanging open, I looked over at Ian, but he wasn't there. Instead I heard the door to the conference room slam. Out the window, I saw Ian run outside to a trashcan near a park bench. Apparently he took the thoughts right out of my head. He threw up into the trash can. Detective Benson, Connors, and I looked away.

"Do you want to, you know? Help him?" Detective Benson asked.

I shook my head. "No, he'll be back in a second. He just needs a moment."

"Alright," Connors said. "Now, you might be wondering how this crazy deduction came to be."

I raised my eyebrows. _No shit, Sherlock._

Apparently, Detective Connors read my mind. "You see, in other operations, the business men are very careful of who they pick. After sending agents to do their dirty work, girls much like Hannah, pretty, young, and carefree, are stalked so their regular habits are known."

"You own a black Honda Civic, right?" Asked Benson.

"Yeah, I do." I responded. "So did that guy on the tape."

"Precisely," Connors remarked. "We can infer that the agent who was sent used this car because he knew you owned the same."

"God," I exclaimed. "They tracked all the way back to my car. Who knows what else they know!"

"Apparently, they know about Hannah's friendship with Allison." Detective Benson said. "You received a message from Hannah's phone saying she was over with Allison, right?"

I nodded. "The man that abducted Hannah must have taken her phone and texted you the message or have made her write it." Benson explained. "Either way, he knew that it would have been a believable excuse."

After forcing myself to take a deep, calming breath, Ian walked back in, looking extremely pale. "Um, sorry about that." He said, quietly.

"It's alright," Connors said, and filled Ian in on the conversation he missed. Ian was silent for a moment then asked, "What next?"

Benson sighed, and looked as if she was waiting for this question to be asked. "Now, we take action."

"We first need to get someone in on the scene." Connors revealed.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"We need someone to be 'recruited' for tomorrow," he replied. "Once we get a man on the scene, we'll be able to find out where this 'business' is located, then take it down from the inside."

Benson had her hands over her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "Only problem," she muttered. "Is who do we send in?"

"Me." I replied, without thinking. "Send me."


	11. Chapter 11

**I****an's Point of View**

"What?" Benson, Connors, and I cried simultaneously.

Without looking up, Anthony said in a flat tone, "The guy on the tape said they need someone Latino. Although I'm not, I'm certainly mistaken for being Mexican all the time."

"But weren't you listening?" I asked. "Detective Connors said they knew pretty much everything about Hannah, as creepy as that sounds. If the guys there knew you car, I'm pretty sure they know who you are!"

"But think about it, Ian! We've done plenty of characters on Smosh. I've looked exactly like Ganondorf, for God's sake! It won't be that hard for me to look little different."

I paused. _Yeah, that's true. But there's no way he can go through with this!_ "But," I began, but then turned to the two detectives. "There's no way you can let him do this! Don't you have someone else that can do it?"

"Well, I guess we could get~" Benson started, but was interrupted by Anthony.

"You need someone out there that can locate Hannah. That's why we're doing this right? Who else can you get that can look Latino, and can identify her in a heartbeat? Who?"

Both detectives were lost for words. "Well," Detective Connors began. "I guess you do have a point."

"But we can't let you do this," Benson finished. "A client can do this. It's against the code rules."

"Please," Anthony begged. "Let me. This one time we can bend the rules. If you let me go after her, it will be the best chance we have to bringing her home. Please."

Finally, Detective Benson let up. "Alright," she sighed. "But only if you swear on your life to follow every single one of our instructions. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Anthony replied, standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow morning for further instructions."

We all shook hands and Anthony and I left. I was speechless. This whole situation was so unreal. _How could all of this happen? _I thought. _First, I lose Hannah. Now Anthony's going out to a 'sex warehouse' just because the police gave us some iffy lead? _

_ No, _I decided. _I'm not letting him do this to himself. It's time I put my foot down. _When we got to the car, Anthony climbed in. I, however, stood beside the door. He looked up at me with a confused glance, and called through the closed door for me to get in. I said nothing, and eventually Anthony rolled his eyes, muttered something like, "I REALLY don't need this now," and scrambled out of the Honda Civic.

"Ian," Anthony sighed. "What is it? Can't you tell me on the way?"

"No," I told him, flatly. "It can't."

"And why is that?" Anthony's tone became frustrated.

"Because if we left, now you wouldn't be able to walk back into the precinct and tell Detectives Benson and Connors you are not going on this god-forbidden trip."

This caught Anthony off guard. "Wait, what?"

I started straight into his eyes with a serious and hard expression. "I am not letting you do this."

Anthony let out a grunt of repeating frustration. "Like I said. What?"

"I'm not letting you go to that ….. prostitution place or whatever. It's suicide."

"What are you talking about, Ian? It's not! And besides, I could bring Hannah ho~"

I cut him off in mid-sentence. "There's no actual proof Hannah's even there!" I yelled.

"But isn't it worth the shot?" Anthony cried back, making his way around the back of the car. "Don't you want her back?" He asked quieter, for he was right in front of me now.

My face reddened with anger. "How dare you." I whispered furiously. "How dare you say that about me."

"Well, do you?" Anthony shouted, not fazed.

"Of course I do, you dick!" I screamed in his face. "She's my sister!"

"And you're a brother to me, Ian! That makes her a sister to me. Wouldn't you go through all of this to help her? Even if there was a chance she's not there?"

I was slightly taken off. "Well, yeah. I would, you know that. But~"

Anthony apparently had enough of my crap. He exploded. "But what Ian! Why is this such a problem to you? Do you not trust me?"

I cowered down. "No, I~"

"Do I seem like I can't accomplish this?"

"No, An~"

"Am too stupid that I couldn't figure out what to do when there?" He bellowed.

"No!" I cried back.

"THEN WHAT IS IT, IAN?" Anthony screamed at the top of his lungs.

I fisted the car out of anger so hard, I made the whole car sway and my hand fell numb. I then grabbed both of Anthony's shoulders and bellowed. "BECAUSE I CAN'T LOOSE YOU TOO, ANTHONY!"

Everything went silent. After a second, I pulled away and let go of his arms. Anthony's face changed from anger to guilt. He looked down. I did as well and continued. "Anthony, you and Hannah are all I have left. And now that she's gone~" I accidentally let a tear fall, but quickly swiped it away. "~I can't bear to lose you, too."

Anthony looked back up. "I know, Ian. I know."

"Then why are you letting yourself do something so stupid? It's…its suicidal!"

"It may as well be." Anthony sighed as he took my shoulders. "Ian, I know it's dangerous. And I know if Hannah's not there, there may not be away out. But I've taken these into consideration, honest I have. What stands out more in my mind than fear is the chance we might be able to bring Hannah home."

I was silent for a moment, not knowing what to say. Finally, I accepted what Anthony had said. I hugged him and said, "Alright. Alright, Anthony. Just promise me something."

Anthony pulled away and asked what it was he needed to promise.

"Promise me that you will be extremely careful." I couldn't help but smile and finish, "And to give Hannah a hug when you see her."

Anthony chuckled. "Cross my heart, Ian. Cross my heart." He then walked back over to the driver's seat and climbed in, just like last time. This time, however, I got in the car as well. We rode back to our modest Californian suburban home in silence. _It made sense though_, I thought. _Right now, nothing else needed to be said._


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry this chapter's really short. However, I've writing a few chapters ahead, and the part I'm at right now it the climax! (Woo-hoo!) So I'll certainly have the next chapter up tomorrow! So do not fret, my fellow Smoshians. Longer chapters will soon be upon us! (STOP TALKING, KATIE, AND JUST LET US READ!) Ok! Ok! SHEESH!**

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><p><strong>Anthony's Point of View<strong>

"Alright, you all set?" The driver asked. "Remember everything they told you?"

I nodded and gulped, trying to hide my nerves. I was afraid if I hadn't gulped, the nerves would have flown out of my mouth in an unattractive from.

"Good luck, son." He replied as I got out of the car. I almost tripped on my ripped and dirty jeans. My shirt was not much better with a whole near the waist and half of the sleeve missing. I nailed my cover; a dirty, disgusting bum.

"Uh, yeah," I responded with an anxious tone. "Thanks for the ride." The man nodded, then without another word, he drove off.

Following the dirt road, I walked to Bewmount Cliff, a few minutes journey. In the mid-60's temperature, I my bare arms shivered. _I understand it's important for me to remain undercover, _I grumbled. _But did I really have to be dropped off and then walk outside in the cold?_

At last, I reached the cliff. In the distance, I saw a few other men dressed the same as I was. As far as I could tell, there were about eleven of them, all Hispanic. I made a mental note of it as I went to scratch an itch on my face. I stopped myself when I realized scratching might ruin the make up on my face. _Even the little things count. _

Once I approached the other men, they paid absolutely no attention to me, or to each other. Everyone was keeping their distance, and I figured I should do the same. Each guy was taller and bigger than me. I should keep low to keep my head….

We waited there for about ten minutes when a small bus came. It looked like one of the buses you see at an airport. When it parked, a man stepped out in a black suit. He had his hands in his pockets and looked either uninterested in being there or was just really bored.

"Gentlemen," He greeted as he came toward us. A few mumbled in a response. I remained quiet and behind most of them. The man in the suit glanced around to the men and shrugged as if to say, 'I guess you'll do.' Tiredly, he waved us to the vehicle. As he turned around, he saw me in the corner of his eye. He stared for a second, but then looked away and walked back to the bus. The recruits followed like zombies; I did as well, but with a heart beating a thousand miles a minute.

_This is it. No turning back now._

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><p>I was tossed a light blue shirt and black pants with a black tool belt. Attatched to it was a flashlight, keys, and a nightstick that looked….used. I tried to hide my shiver.<p>

"Here's your schedule for the next couple of weeks." A man said boringly who was dressed in the same clothes I was given. "Follow it just as it says, and no problems will be made, got that?"

I nodded. He stared at me as if waiting for me to do something. After realizing that I had no idea what to do, he rolled his eyes and motioned to a dimly lit men's room sign in the distance.

"Oh!" I realized and trotted off the dirt-filled hallway. This whole place was disgusting. The outside of this building (which seemed to be an abandoned warehouse) looked like it had been built in the 1970's and hadn't been looked at since. Inside, it smelled of sweat and urine. And it got worse as I went into the bathrooms. Trying not to vomit, I took a look at my schedule when I finished changing. For tomorrow, Monday, I was to stand guard during the 'auction' for about two hours. I sighed with relief. Looks like I would be there for most of the time. Hopefully, Hannah wouldn't be in the last twenty minutes I was gone. _That is, _I added grimly. _If Hannah is actually here._


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey ther! Yeah, yeah, I know. I said I would post this three days ago. But then exam week started...Anyway I did have this written yesterday at 3:00 am but was down D: So here ya go! Enjoy :D**

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><p><strong>Hannah's Point of View<strong>

It happened at around seven o'clock in the morning, for what I could guess. Although I had lost most sense of time, my sleeping routine had tied into the guards patrolling. Usually, they came into our cell at around eight o'clock. I didn't even have time to wonder what they were doing outside their daily routine before two men ripped Olivia and me out of our small cot. We were forced to stand up which made my ankle throb violently. They took off our ankle chains and gripped us by our arms.

Confused, I turned to Olivia to see what she was thinking. However, she had a look on her face that told me she was expecting, and awaiting, this. "What's going~?" I asked aloud. "Liv?"

All she returned to me was a slight smile and a very quiet. "Bye, Hannah."

"Wh-what?" I asked. Before she could further explain, the guard who controlled me took me down on direction of the hall while Olivia and her puppet master took her the other way. My heart pounded. "Where are you~?"

The man interrupted me as he tightened his grip. "Shut up." He sternly said. I did. We walked down a slightly lighted hall as I tried to put as little effort on my ankle as possible.

After realizing this was my first time out of that small cell in more than two weeks, I decided to take this opportunity to mentally take down everything I saw. That opportunity vanished when a sack was placed over my head. "Whoops!" The guard said sarcastically. "Can't let you see anything you're not supposed to, can we?"

I was led throughout the hallways for a couple more minutes. At last, I heard a door open and I was forced inside. Voices mumbled, including the man who dragged me here. Another voice responded. This one was feminine, however. _Strange, _I thought. _I haven't heard a women's voice ever since I've been here. Why am I here? What are they going to do?_

The female voice sighed and agreed to ….whatever the guard had said. The grip left my arm and the bag was pulled from my head. After my eyes had a chance to adjust to the light, I turned to see the door close and lock. _Damn. So close._

"Get in the shower. You stink just like every other whore here." I turned to see a lady about thirty years of age with long pink fingernails pointing to a small, lime-stained covered shower. When I didn't move, she rolled her eyes and whined, "Well? Are you going or not?"

_Was I going to shower, now? With you in the room? Um…no._

"Fine, looks like we're doing this the hard way." The lady lunged over and gripped my arm. Her long nails dug into my skin. I let out the tiniest "ouch" and she violently shushed me. After practically throwing me into the shower, she looked at me as if waiting for something to happen. "Have you never taken a shower before or are you just really slow? Guess I have to walk you through this. First take off your clothes."

Very reluctant to disrobing in front of a complete stranger, I slowly began to take of my dirt-covered shirt. Without waiting for me to finish undressing, the lady turned on the shower which stung my skin with the sudden freezing temperature. "Five minutes, tops."

I have to say, it was extremely awkward showering completely naked in front of a random person. But I wasn't going to complain too much, despite the freezing water. After not bathing for more than two weeks, I was careful not to complain. While rubbing myself down quickly with an old soap bar (I was trying not to think about how many other girls had used the same one) I saw my stomach sunken in like a shriveled up skeleton. I hadn't noticed how much weight I had (unhealthily) lost. I looked gross. I finished washing, trying my hardest to ignore it. I was tossed an article of clothing. A skinny and slutty black party dress that barely covered my breast and butt. I quietly groaned, slipped it on, and stepped out of the shower.

The lady sighed and took my wrist. After plopping me into a chair in front of the mirror, she mumbled under her breath, "Every fucking day. No one ever gives me a minute's break here. Every fucking day." She took her anger out on my hair, unfortunately. After burning me a couple of time with the hair dryer, she violently teased my hair up into a half-and-half bun. She bumped up my bangs and let the rest of my red hair cascade down my back. After curling it and cussing at me how grossly knotted my hair was, she moved onto make up. Bright red, cheap lipstick was applied, along with long fake eyelashes. "Done. Tenth one today. I'm sure no one else did as much as me." The lady continued to complain.

I stepped into and tried not to stumble in the five-inch black stilettos. She stepped back, looked up and down, and rolled her eyes and shrugged to say 'good enough'. Clomping around in her stilettos, she went to the locked door, pounded on it and yelled, "Finished, get her out!"

I heard the door click into unlocked and the same man who had brought me here pulled me outside. I saw a group of girls about my age all dressed the same as me. The man commanded I wait in the line. He walked away and left me standing there. I took this moment to try and process what was going on. "Do you guys know what is going on?"

They didn't turn around. They just stood there, facing the wall, occasionally stumbling on the shoes. _What the~? _One girl finally turned around. Her eyes were cloudy and rolling to the back of her head. She had her mouth slightly open and swayed back and forth. After she leaned back against the wall to catch herself, I realized. _Oh my god. They're drugged._

My heart rate grew, blood rushing through my ears. _What are they doing here? _I glanced around the empty hallway. No guards were walking around, but I did see a small light come from one room. Quietly I snuck over to the door. I peeked inside to see a girl standing in the middle of a small room. The only light shining was on her; the rest of the room filled with four small windows that looked inside. I squinted to see a few men with champagne in their hands, motioning toward the girl while they spoke. Praying it wasn't what I thought it was, I looked back over to the girl. She was dressed like me and had her hand on her hip. The platform she stood upon slowly rotated as if showing off a prized jewel in a museum. She moaned a little bit, as if this small spinning motion was making her spin.

All I could hear was a small masculine voice say, "Lot 21597, bid at $25,000. Do I hear $30,000? $40,000? Going once? Twice? Sold to~"

Something spun me around. I saw a guard look at me with dark squinty eyes. He grinned with his yellow teeth. "What do you think YOU'RE looking at?" He asked. "Don't worry, you'll get your shot soon enough."

_No, I_ thought. _I am not going to do that. No matter what. I will not be sold into something like this. _I squirmed from his grasp. "No," I cried. "No!"

He tsked. "Why be like that?" The man asked. "Well, if you insist." He reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a small needle. After lifting up my arm, he stabbed the side of my stomach and pressed down the bottom. "Ssh. Sleep, pretty lady. Sleep."

I'm not sure if I slept, but I did enter a dream-like state. I felt like I was floating on a cloud. As much as I forced my mind to think straight, jumbled messages were sent throughout my body from my brain. I couldn't control myself. I felt like a puppet as hands moved me to wherever they wanted me to go. Vision so blurry I couldn't even see my own hand in front of me. Like an echo, a door slammed in the distance. Suddenly, I was spun around in circles by an unknown force. I tried to look around to see what was going on, but black surrounded me. I heard a voice like an echo in a cave drag out, "Lot 2…..1….5…."


	14. Chapter 14

**Anthony's Point of View**

My feet began to ache. I had been standing perfectly straight for the past hour and a half behind some rich, pedophiliac. Unable to say or do anything, I tried my hardest to stay awake and to pay attention to every little detail, as the police had directed me to. But I found it hard to pay attention to the sexified teenage girls when they weren't who I was looking for, and because I couldn't stop thinking how great it would feel to beat the shit out of this creep-ass who sat in his luxury chair, drinking champagne, and betting on drugged-up girls with four other men.

With a heavy heart, I looked at my watch. It was 7:45 am. It was almost time for me to move on to my next duty on the schedule. And I hadn't seen Hannah yet.

_What if she isn't here? _That one worrisome and annoying voice whispered into my head. _What will you do then, Anthony? Huh? You know you're going to be stuck here if she isn't._

_ Shut up! _I screamed in my head. _I won't be stuck here, even if Hannah isn't here. I'll plant the tracking device in the security headquarters, just like the police told me to. Once that is set up, they'll know where this place is and take it down. Now, shut up. I've got work to do._

This finally made that specific voice go away, for now. It was not time for a panic attack. 7:52 am. Please, God. Let her be here.

A voice rang throughout the small room. "Lot 21597, sold to client #4." A security guard walked in and took the girl out of the room. When he came back in, he brought one more. My heart jumped and I quietly but violently gasped.

The girl was short and very, very skinny. Although all the girls wore the same thing, this girl's dress was tight enough that you could see her ribs outlined. She had red hair that was dull and knotted. Her eyes were like every others'; cloudy and rolling to the back of her head, an effect of being forcibly drugged. But these eyes were a specific light-sky blue, much like her brothers. The man put her hand on her hips and left the room. The platform began to slowly spin. "Lot 21598, we will begin the bid in one minute." She moaned.

Oh my god. It's Hannah. Half of me wanted to scream for joy that she was still alive. But the other part wanted to break down and cry for what horrible state she was in. I was furious at what these people had done to her. What they had done to my sister. I was going to kill them if I had the chance.

The man sitting in front of me began to talk into his tape. "About 5'3'' ginger. Too fat, but not ugly. Breast is….slightly under average. Work should be done. Bid will go for…. $32,000 tops."

I lost it, all control. I stormed up behind the man with the nightstick in my hand.

"Yes, I'll have more champagne. I understand your shift is almost under, yes?" The man said without turning around.

He had no idea I was about to take my entire wrath out on his fat head. "O-oh," I replied lamely. "Right, yes sir."

I didn't want to leave. I was terrified I wouldn't see where Hannah was taken to. I was terrified this truly would be the last time I would see her. But I did as I was told and took the wine class from his large hand. As I walked slowly out he called, "Make sure it's vintage this time. Yes, you CAN taste a difference." I nodded in response, then left. As it turned to the closing door, the last thing I saw was a glimpse of Hannah stumbling on her shoes.

_Don't worry, Hannah. I'm trying, I'm trying. We're going to get out of here. We're going to be ok. _

The voice came up in my head again. _You don't know that, Anthony._

I ignored my nerves, but deep down, I knew it was right.

**Hannah's Point of View**

After a while, the effects wore off. I didn't remember much that had happened in the thirty minutes I was under the influence of the drug, but I do remember being thrown back into the familiar cell, being chained up again, and quickly falling asleep. When I woke up, I noticed my regular clothes were back on (Thank god...). But I noticed something else that wasn't as great. Olivia wasn't back yet from wherever she was taken.

What scared me more was the fact that Olivia had been talking about this for a long time. Is it true what she had said before? Could she really be gone now? I hoped it wasn't. If it was, I was all alone now. Even more so than before.

All of this plus the 'hangover' I had from the drugs gave me a gigantic headache. I rubbed my head to ease the pain. But when I touched my hair, I found something I wasn't expecting. I pulled it out and held it in my hand. A bobby-pin.

My heart skipped a beat. With an idea forming in my head, I walked over towards the door of the cell. The chain on my ankle let me go only so far, so I got on my hands and knees and took a closer look on the lock outside. It was a simple key hole. Nothing special. It looked extremely easy to pick. I grinned wildly.

But a voice crept into my head. It was Olivia's. _Don't even think about it. Trust me, I know from experience. You will not get far and it is not worth the possible consequences. _A vision passed through my mind of her scared and bleeding back becoming mine. I then turned around to see my own back that looked remotely similar to the picture. _Couldn't get worse. And I've got one chance. _I told myself. _One shot to get out of here. I'm going to take it. I have to._

_ But not know, _my other personality responded. _You need to wait until night when you know the guards routine perfectly. Go when the last guard patrols, so around 11:30 pm. Be quiet, lay low, and pray that soon you'll be able to see the light of day again._


	15. Chapter 15

**Anthony's Point of View**

_Beep-Beep-Beep, Beep-Beep~. _I shut off my watch's alarm. 10:45 pm. Time to take action. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. You never know how tired you can be until you've walked hallways for five hours straight.

I looked around the sleeping corridors to see about twenty beds, all empty. _Everything's going according to plan._

This building was so huge that I had trouble remembering where the security headquarters was. Huffing in frustration as I hit another dead end, I decided to just walk around until I found it. Swiveling around on one foot, I headed down a random hall.

After about twenty minutes of flying blind, I looked around a corner to see two guards coming out of one room. They both wore a gold badge on their shirts that said 'HQ'. Could this be it? As they walked around the other corner of the hallway, I sprinted to the room and barely caught the door as it almost closed. I sighed in relief as I saw computers, televisions, and a mass amount of bright and flashing buttons. This looked like the place. Out of my pocket I pulled a small green-mapped machine that beeped quietly. At one of the computers, I placed it into the hard drive and turned the small flip-switch on the device to 'on'. A file popped up onto the desktop and asked me if I wanted to begin tracing. Quickly I pushed yes. I wanted to get out of this room as fast as possible. Who knows what kind of trouble I would be in if I was caught here!

_Loading 56%. More than halfway there….._

Suddenly, the door to the room burst open. I spun around in the chair and quickly stood up. _Oh God! What do I say? What excuse could I possible make? _I cleared my voice to disguise it, just like I had done all day. "Um~"

"What are you doing here?" The man cried in a gruff voice. "I'm supposed to be looking over the monitors now. Follow your schedule, dumbass!"

Something about the voice struck me as familiar. I knew this person, but from where? He stepped into the low light of a ceiling lamp. Brown hair was slipping out of his blue hat. It curved to the right (well, his left, my right) all the way around his head.

All of a sudden, it hit me who this was. _No way! No fucking way. _As he came closer, I took no hesitation and swiped the hat of his head, revealing a unique and familiar bowl haircut.

"IAN?" I cried in my normal voice.

"ANTHONY?" He yelled back in the same manor. We smiled, happy to see someone we knew and that didn't want to hurt us anytime glances were exchanged. As we hugged, I asked him. "What the hell are you doing here, Ian?"

He pulled away and grinned a mischievous smile. "You didn't think I was going to let you have all the fun, did you?"

"How did you get here?"

"The police called me, on your phone of course, to say that there was another meeting between the people we heard on the tape. There weren't enough recruiters the day you went in, so another group followed." Ian smiled triumphantly. "And I signed up!"

"Ian, you're just as insane as I am!" I rolled my eyes, but gave him a great pat on the shoulder. "But I'm glad you're here."

Ian turned to the computer. "Hey, the tracking device is finished loading."

"Oh, right." I went over and tried to hide the tracker's file by hiding it deep in the records. "Satellites will pick it up in about ten minutes, so at 11:25 the police with receive the transition."

"So they'll be here at about 12:00 then?" Ian continued.

"That's my best guess."

Ian nodded. "Anthony? Is…is she here?"

I smiled sadly. "Yeah, she's here. I saw her. Hannah's… she's not exactly heal~"

"Yeah, I figured just as much. But we'll all be out of here soon…I hope." Ian said despondently.

I gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "Right you are. Now let's go." We simultaneously nodded in agreement, put our hats back on, and headed out the door.

We went left down the hallway, heading back to the sleeping corridors. Not a while after, however, I felt as if we we're being followed. I turned my head occasionally to see if anyone was there, but every time I saw nothing.

That is until I heard voices behind us. My eyes saw two men, also security guards, walking about twenty feet behind us. I knew we were supposed to be in the sleeping corridors already, so I hurried Ian along. That's when I saw that the men behind us moved faster as well. Beginning to get nervous, I sharply turned a corner while grabbing Ian's arm. He asked me what this was all about, and I told him two guys were following us. Ian argued back by making sure I knew we were not the only people here. As we bickered, I didn't look to see where we were going. In a jog, Ian and I collided with two big men.

"HEY! It's them!" One yelled. "Get 'um!"

"RUN!" I cried to Ian, and we headed in the other direction, only to see the two men who were following us running our way.

"Where do we go?" Ian cried.

"I don't know!" Both sides of the hallway were blocked. Ian and I ended up back-to-back, both facing opposite ways. Suddenly, Ian was grabbed by the two men on his side. I turned to help him, but that caused me to take my eyes of the guys on my side. One took a strong grip on both my arms while the other put a bag over my head. I opened my mouth to scream, but a hard punch collided with my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I coughed aggressively and fell to my knees. As much as I tried to pull my arms forward, they remained behind me as ropes bounded my hands. Right as I regained my lungs, I began to cry out. But no words came out as my head was struck with my own nightstick. The last thing I felt was my upper torso colliding with the hard and dirty ground.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hannah's Point of View**

A door's slam echoed the hallway. With that, my plan was sent into action. I took the bobby pin out of its hiding place, under a pile of dirt in the corner. I put the pin into the small key hole in my chain. Eyes closed, I waited for the click. Finally, I heard a relieving snap and the chain came off.

After taking one last glance up and down the halls and seeing no one was there, I stretched my arm as far as it could go outside the bars of the door. I did the same I had done in the ankle chain. _Click_. I grinned and silently cheered myself on.

With no time to waste, I took off down the hallway, keeping as much pressure of my right ankle as possible. I used the few minutes I was able to walk around before to navigate the first hallway. I came to a turn however, and stared down a short and unknown corridor with two doors right across from each other. After waiting a few seconds to see if anyone was to come out of the two doors, a voice called in my head, _No time to lose. _I believed it, watched for guards, and crept down the foyer. About halfway down, I heard voices and footsteps.

I gasped and my heart skipped a beat. _SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!_ Looking around for somewhere to go, I spotted the two doors. Praying they were unlocked, I went to the one on the right, the one closest to me. I turned the handle and the door creaked open. I sighed with relief. _Now, I pray that there's no one inside. Looks like I'll have to take that chance though._

That prayer wasn't answered however. In the room, under a single ceiling lamp, laid a man. His mouth and feet were duck-taped and eyes were blind folded. He was manacled to the ground by handcuffs that were woven into a closed hook connected to the floor. Without thinking twice, I ran to help him. Behind me, the door closed. To this, he squirmed a little bit, but apparently was too tired to do more.

I kneeled down beside him and lifted his face to remove the bonds. I apparently frightened him, for he shifted spasmodically and he cried, but the tape over his mouth muffled it. I shushed him to calm down and told him I was here to help. He gasped and began to mumble rapidly in a happy manor. _I would be pretty happy too, I guess. _

"Don't worry," I cooed as I untied the knot to the blind fold. "I going to help you out of here, ok?" After I undid the tight tie, I pulled his head forward. "Can you tell me why you're~?"

But I stopped talking as I met the man's eyes. Those 'poo-poo' colored eyes struck me like a ton of bricks. Tears of pure joy filled my own eyes as the emo hair cut matched the bio of Anthony Padilla. "A-Anthony?" His eyes smiled right back at me. He tried to say something, but all I heard were muffles. "Oh!"

I began to remove the duck tape. "Oh, crap. This is going to hurt really, REALLY badly. Sorry!"On the count of three, I ripped it off. Right after, I slapped my hand onto his mouth to soften his cry of pain. I shushed him again. "You have to be quite, but it's ok, it's ok." I soothed. "Worst part's over."

Once he calmed down, I pulled my hand away and wiped my eyes with it. "Anthony!" I cried and leaned in for a gigantic hug. Tears flowed down my face but I made no plan to stop them.

"Hannah! Oh, Hannah!" Anthony cried back. How long I had waited to hear that voice again. "I can't believe it's you! I-I never thought~!"

"~I'd see you again, I know! Same here!" I finished. I looked back at him. "Why are you here? How did you know where to find me?"

"Long story," He rushed. "Help me out of these handcuffs, ok? If you can get that, I can get the rest. Then we can get out of here and hopefully find Ian."

As I went behind him and pulled at the chains, Ian's name caught my ear. "Ian? You mean he's here too?"

"Yeah, I don't know where though. I don't even remember how I got in here. All I remember was walking down the corridor with him, and then I think a couple guys jumped us." Anthony gasped and then asked me, "Hannah! What happened to your ankle?"

I looked down to my leg that was sticking out to the side. My ankle was facing the way it had been for a couple days now. Around the brim was an inflamed and bleeding red line that the chain left behind. "Another long story," I answered. "It's most likely broken, though."

"I'm so sorry, Hannah." Anthony whispered.

"What are you so sorry for?" I giggled. "Wasn't your fault I fell off a bed."

"WAIT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU FELL OFF A BED?" Anthony yelled.

I quickly quieted him but couldn't help but laugh along. "Shh! And no, not that way, you perv! I jumped off a bed and broke my ankle."

He sighed. "Thank god. But, I really meant that I'm so sorry this all happened to you." He said sadly. "I'm just~I feel so~"

"It's ok." I smiled sadly. "It wasn't anyone's fault." I tugged violently on the closed hook and the chain, but both didn't budge.

"I know, but it was Ian's and my job to protect you as your guardians and…Well, I feel like we failed you."

I sniffed and hugged him from behind. "Don't sweat it, ok? We'll all be home soon. We are all going to be ok, I promise."

Suddenly, I felt like my hair caught on fire. Someone had grabbed it from behind and tugged it with all his might. I screamed and gripped my head. He thrust his grip upwards bringing me with him. "Now, now," The familiar voice said. "Let's break up the love fest, you too. It's time to get down to business."


	17. Chapter 17

**Anthony's Point of View**

I spun around as far as I could when she screamed. A hand had reached out from the darkness and grabbed her ginger hair. "Now, now," Someone said. "Let's break up the love fest, you too. It's time to get down to business" _That voice! Where have I heard that voice?_

"You bastard!" I yelled. "Get your damn hands off of her!"*

"Not until we get some quick little questions answered, Padilla." A man stepped into the small light of the room. He wore a black suit with dirt on the bottom of his shoes. Standing slightly taller than me, he stood with Hannah in his grasp in front of me. We locked eyes, one's I had seen not too long ago. _The man at the cliff! The guy who came from the bus! _"You!" I cried.

"What, you're surprised?" The man asked who seemed surprised himself. "Of course this little problem comes back to you and me! You think I didn't automatically recognize you at the cliff, behind all of that 'disguising' make up? Didn't they tell you that we do back round searches of every girl here? Do you think that you and Hecox really 'infiltrated' this business? That we don't know you planted a tracking device in the head computer? You really think you're that clever?"

I said nothing, too shocked to respond.

"I didn't think so either," He answered. "When I first saw you on the cliff, I knew that the police had sent you, 'disguised' you so you could get in. I recognized you as the man who lived with this bitch's brother." he tugged Hannah's hair upwards as he mentioned her. Hannah let out a small shriek. "If you think about it, once I recognized you on the cliff, I should have killed you right then and there. Might have put some sense into the other guys of what would happen if you mess with us. But instead, I decided to test my theory of whether you were Padilla. I planned out ALL that occurred up until know to see if my theory was correct, and looks like it was."

"You're insane!" I screamed. "You're a mad man!"

"Maybe so," The man shrugged my comment off. "An apparent mad man with tons of money in his pocket. Like I was saying, I planned out everything, which includes missy's little escape over here." He turned Hannah around to speak directly into her face. "Yes, that does include the bobby pin in your hair, your 'magnificent' escape from your cell, and the men walking down the halls at the exact same time you were. No, my dear, you're not that smart. Not even a little for the fact you were stupid enough to get abducted here." He dragged Hannah over to the right hand corner. Slapping one side of handcuffs to her hand, he attached the other to a closed hook similar to mine. She was left one arm awkwardly above her head and curled up in the corner.

"The only thing I didn't plan was the little machine you and Hecox set up." He turned back to me. "You're going to tell me how to shut it off. You ARE a computer whiz, aren't you?"

"Piss off." I mumbled, meeting his eyes.

"Tsk, no manners. It's a shame, really." The man walked over to me, came to my side, and then kicked right into my hip. I let out a cry, and so did Hannah. "There's a lot more of that where it came from if someone refuses to cooperate."

"Doesn't matter anyway," I gasped. "The police will be here any minute. You're repulsive 'business' is finished."

"Quite the contrary, actually. Thanks to you, we all know the police will arrive here at midnight. Right now it is 11:45, which means that although they have already received the message, the police will use the signal to track this place down. However, if you be smart and tell me how to deactivate the navigator, the signal will be broken and the police will be cut off. Now, how do you turn it off?"

"Go to hell." This resulted in another kick, this time to my face. I cursed aloud and my vision went fuzzy. _I'm not sure how much longer I can take this. _

"My, my." The psycho sighed. "This is just not going fast enough, is it?" He pulled a knife out of his pocket. "Maybe this will help things move along." I gulped as he came closer.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM, YOU CRAZY SON OF A BITCH!" Hannah cried from the other side of the room. Both my glance and the man's turned to her.

"Well, you've been such a good girl until now I forgot you were even there!" He chuckled. Something sparked in his eye. "Which gives me an idea."

After calmly walked back over to Hannah in the corner, he heaved her up and put the knife to her neck. "Tell me or she dies." He told me simply. "But I think telling would be the better option, Padilla. These are new shoes, you see. I don't want blood stains on them just yet."

If only my hands were untied. I would have strangled him right then and there. _Keep control of yourself. You're smarter than that, Anthony. You can figure a way out of this. _"You wouldn't want to do that."

He laughed. "Oh, really? And why is that?"

"You wouldn't want to be thousands of dollars in debt, would you? I heard Hannah was bid pretty high. I doubt those sickos who bought her would be very happy is they learned they weren't going to get what they bargained for."

Hannah gasped at what I had just said. "Anthony! What's that supposed to mean? How could you~!"

"Shut up, Hannah." I yelled interrupting her. Never had I really meant that to her. Apparently she noticed that to. She shut her mouth.

"That is true." He agreed and took away the knife. But suddenly his face changed from discouragement to amusement as he laughed. "You must think you're clever, Padilla. Very, very clever. It is true that I don't want to lose that much money, but do you really think that I would give up my company's location just so I could save a few thousand? No, you don't have to worry about that. I make twenty times more than just what this bitch is worth in just one day. And if I have to sacrifice a couple of bucks for some answers, I think I could manage." He glanced down at his wristwatch. "Oh dear," he tsked. We are running out of time, aren't we? Let's speed up the process, shall we?"

And at that moment, he raised the knife over his head and brought it back down, with momentum, into Hannah's right waist. It dug inside leaving a trail of blood flowing down her side. Out of pure agony and pain, Hannah screamed louder than anyone I had ever heard. The man dropped her back to the floor and she curled deep into the dirty corner. As blood began to seep through her worn yellow shirt, she placed her hand over her hip to try and stop the bleeding. But without both hands, the red kept flowing throughout her fingers. And after all this time trying to keep her feelings in, she just couldn't take it anymore. Out of the corner of the room, small and pitiful cries echoed.

"YOU BASTARD!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs. I squirmed and shook in my shackles out of anger.

"Tell me how to disable it and I'll stop." The man yelled, only to communicate over Hannah's cries.

"I'LL NEVER HELP YOU!"**

"I wouldn't be so stubborn." He told me. Hannah fell from his grasp as he simply dropped her to the floor. "Because her blood is draining, she has about ten minutes to live. But don't worry about me losing my $30,000. Trust me, Padilla; I'll make sure the device is shut off BEFORE those ten minutes are up. To be honest, I'm not sure how you're ending up, but we'll figure that out at a later time." He glanced back down at his watch a second time and grimaced. He looked up at me and gave a demonic and evil smile. "Think wisely now. The clock is ticking."

I looked down at his feet to Hannah, who's whole hand was now covered in red. Slow but noticeable drops of blood plopped onto the floor with a _drip. _With all her might, she forced her head upwards to look at me with terrified and hopeless eyes. And I'm afraid to say that I looked back with the same expression.

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><p>*-I love you if you get that reference :D Back to the Future FTW :D<p>

**-Hope you get that reference too :D


	18. Chapter 18

Yeah for long chapters! Usually aren't super exciting for the author, but this is my favorite chapter by far! Not only is it the super-duper exciting part, it also (Katie trivia time!) was really the reason I wrote the story! Yup! This chapter and the last were what I based the story off of. I literally wrote these chapters (very...very..terribly) in a 200-word document and based the entire story off of that lololol. Anyway, I know, I tend to ramble! So here you go!

Special love to all of you who followed my story up to here! I love you all and you have no idea how much I appreciate it! Also, I get super excited once another review pops up, so feel free to leave one :D Love you all!

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><p><strong>I<strong>**an's Point of View**

A loud and feminine scream woke me from my dreamless sleep. A voice responded to the terror. _YOU BASTARD! _

_ A-Anthony? _I thought. _Was that him? If so, who screamed? _It took me a while to finally come to my senses. _Yes, that was Anthony. And...I think that was Hannah, but I don't know. Whoever it was, I have to help!_

I began to stand up, but my wrists pulled me back to the earth. Something was attached to them, and whatever that was was attached to the floor. I tried to look and see, but I found my eyes were blind-folded. _Oh shit. This is not good…_

With my fingers, I felt around my wrists. Something metallic locked them, most likely handcuffs. I followed the chain down to a closed hook of some sort. When I tugged on the hook, nothing happened. It must have been cemented into the ground. But I had an idea.

I look my feet (which were duck-taped together) and slipped them under my body. I then used all my strength to kick them back against the hook. I repeated so many times until I heard the sound I was hoping for. _Crumble-crumble._

After putting my feet back out in front of me, I felt my fingers back to the hook to see it had shifted a little in place. With this, I twisted it back and forth until eventually it popped out of place. My hands were free. Well, from the ground at least.

I took my handcuff hands under my body and around to my head. First I removed the blindfold, then ripped off the duck tape on my mouth. Wow, that hurt like a bitch…

Once I reached my ankles and began to remove the manacles, I heard the scream again. My head shot up and tried to locate how close the voice was. It sounded more like an echo, meaning it was farther away. I had to hurry.

Once free, I opened the door to the room I was kept in. My eyes glanced up and down the halls to see no one was there. Suddenly, the scream repeated, followed by a worried and angry voice. I heard the echo stronger in one direction, so decided to proceed that way. When I reached a corner, I followed the same routine I had before; I listened for a scared and concerned voice following a cry for help. Down the hall stood two doors across from each other. From one, a loud bang emerged followed by a muffled yelp and a sound as if a hand had met flesh. I knew that certain slapping sound from anywhere. The specific noise it made when I had accidentally slapped him across the face, hard. Overall, I knew who was in there. _Anthony._

Without second thoughts, I raced down the hall, ignoring the pounding in my skull. _Two doors, huh? Looks like we'll have to take a wild guess._ I lunged to the one on the right and leaning my ear up against it. Inside I heard a voice speak in an increasingly calm voice, while another rang out in a worried manner. A voice I knew anywhere.

_So he's definitely in there! _I thought. _Now I just need to find out how I can get this other guy out of the picture. Hm, well he's pretty close to the door. I wonder if I can just~_

At that moment, I turned the door's handle and thrust it open. The door was supposed to open inwards, but something blocked its way. Whatever it was, I had hit it hard with the metallic door. _Oh crap! _I thought. When I looked inside, I saw the man I had hit with the door fall hard onto the ground. On the other side of the room, Anthony sat on the ground, tied up. _OH CRAP!_

Immediately, I ran over and jumped on top of the man lying on the floor. He struggled underneath me and threw me off. I hit the ground and rolled over to one side. When I looked back over, the man had not gotten back up, but gripped his head in pain. _I must have hit him on the head. This is my chance! _Once again, I jumped onto his back. This time, however, I threw my handcuff's chain over his head and onto his throat. As I pulled back like he was a horse I was trying to tame, his meaty hands flew back behind his head and gripped my arms. He pulled forward, obviously trying to throw me back off, but this just made my pull harder on the chain. Choking noise emerged from him. Eventually his grip loosed on my hands and they fell to the floor along with his head. I stood up and began to run towards Anthony.

"No!" He cried to my. I gave him a confused glance. "Just hand me the knife and his handcuff key. I can take care of myself. Help Hannah!"

"Wha~?" I asked as I turned to where Anthony was looking. In the dark corner sat my sister. She was shriveled up into a small ball, her head hidden in her knees. One hand was handcuffed to a pole in the room; the other covered her right hip. Out of her fingers, however, dripped blood that drained from her hip. _Oh my god. _I quickly did as Anthony told me to, passing the key and knife (stained with red. I shivered) to him. Once done, I sprinted over to Hannah, lifting her face to mine. Her eyes were cloudy and rolling around in her head while her face was white pale. When she looked back at me, her mouth very slightly grinned. "Hi, Ian." She whispered with a short breath.

"Oh Hannah!" I cried as tears flowed down my face. "Oh my god. Oh my god." Anthony came up behind me. I turned to him as he kneeled down beside me after he unlocked Hannah's handcuff along with mine. Hannah's hand dropped onto her leg as I pulled her onto my lap.

"What can I do!" Anthony asked anxiously. "What can I do?"

"Go outside and get the police! They should be here and we need an ambulance. Now." I replied while lifting Hannah's shirt up. Her entire right side was a deep red color. I gently removed her hand and placed both of mine onto the wound. She winced and automatically threw her blooded hands over mine. I shushed her to keep her calm.

"But can I do anything else for her right~?"

"NO!" I screamed. "GO! NOW!" And without another word, Anthony left running down the hall.

Hannah's eyes began to flutter. "Ian," she asked. "What are you and Anthony doing here?" She murmured.

"Helping you," I responded as a tear dropped from my nose to Hannah's forehead. I giggled slightly and rubbed it off. "Sorry."

A smiled emerged from Hannah's face. "Now, don't cry, Ian. You see, if you cry, then I'll start crying, and we'll never get through this."

"Same old Hannah," I replied with a small laugh and a sniff. "Still making Monsters Inc. jokes are you?"

"Haven't changed a bit, have I?" Hannah said. Her eyes began to slowly close.

"Hannah," I told her. "Don't go to sleep ok? You need to stay up, alright?"

Hannah sighed. "But I'm tired, Ian. I'll be back in just a second, ok?"

My heart jumped and began to race. "No, not ok, babe. Just stay awake for a couple more minutes, ok?" Hannah didn't respond. I felt my face turn pale. "H-Hannah?" My nerves must have made my hands tighten, for Hannah's whole body twitched when my hands applied more pressure. My heart calmed. "Oh, sorry about that."

Hannah sighed. "Whatever, you're good. Besides, I was just thinking, I wasn't . . . you know. What movie is that one line from? You know, stay wake? STAAAY AWAAAKE? You know, that one?'

I grinned, partially from Hannah's sarcastic sense of humor and for the fact she was still here. "Finding Nemo. We can watch it when we get home, you know."

The small smile faded from Hannah's pale face. She looked back up at me with eyes that read, "Are you sure that's in reach?"

I looked back with worried eyes. "No, Hannah….No, you'll be fine. You'll be ok, I promise. Believe me, ok?"

Hannah's eyes read sadness and hurt. I looked up and down her body to see cuts and bruises everywhere along with her twisted and blooded ankle. Her clothes were raggedy and worn and showed her ribs popping out of her skin. A huge scrap covered the side of her face. But despite all this, Hannah gazed straight into my eyes as she said with truth in her voice. "Alright, Ian. I believe you. But I'm keeping you to that promise, I hope you know that."

"Alright." My voice cracked. Trying to keep Hannah's mind busy and not thinking about slipping into unconsciousness, we talked for about three more minutes. When Hannah slowly came more unresponsive, I remembered something that I thought would keep her busy for just a few more minutes. "So, do you by any chance know a guy named Jason?" With that name, Hannah's eyes popped open and were wide.

"Anthony told me this guy named Jason came over a few weeks ago to see about you." Suddenly, Hannah put her hands on her face and moaned. "What?" I asked, curious.

"We were supposed to~" she began to be choosy with her words. "~hang out Friday. Or, well, I guess it would have been a couple Fridays ago. Damn it, I bet he's furious."

"Not really," I responded. "He was actually worried. Really worried, in fact. He wanted to know what happened to you."

Behind Hannah's hands, a large smile appeared and her cheeks finally showed some color-a faint pink blush. "Thought that would spark something," I laughed. "Now, tell me. Who is this 'Jason' fellow, and why have Anthony and I never met him before?"

But before Hannah could answer, the door to the room burst open. Paramedics ran inside, following by Anthony trailing behind. Outside in the hallway, a mass police force rampaged up and down. The first paramedic leaned down to see how I was. "No, no!" I cried. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine! Get Hannah, now! She was stabbed!"

I moved out of the way so the medicals could do their job. I turned around to see a pale and worrisome, but somewhat relieved, Anthony. Without thinking, I walked over to him and hugged him with all my might. In the same fashion, he returned the hug. I could have sworn, however, I heard a faint whimpering coming from my left side. Never once in the thirteen years I had known him had Anthony cried. After giving him a supportive pat on the back, the paramedic called, "We're ready to go. Come on, we have to hurry."

And so we did. Anthony and I raced out with the medicals to the outside, despite our lack of energy, mentally and physically. Once outside we followed Hannah's stretcher inside an ambulance. Before the doors closed, Anthony and I saw the chaos outside. Men were dragged from inside the building and lugged into police cars while girls about Hannah's age were helped outside and into cars as they staggered across the concrete. My eyes pulled away when the medical told me Hannah was all hooked up and alright for now. After handing me a towel to wipe the blood on, the ambulance pulled forward as the doors shut behind us.

"Alright, Hannah." I cooed. "You can go ahead and sleep now." And immediately she did so. I gripped her left hand while Anthony sat opposite of me and gripped her right. Anthony glanced back outside through the window to see the bedlam we had created slowly fade away to the distance. Interrupting his thoughts, I joked, "Not bad for two twenty somethings who made YouTube videos for a living, huh?"

Anthony chuckled and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Not too shabby, my friend. Not too shabby."


	19. Chapter 19

**Hannah's Point of View**

No one can really explain why, but whenever you've just woken up and there are people around, you always pretend you're still asleep. Don't ask me why, I don't know either, but when I awoke in a clean-smelling environment and in clean clothes, something I hadn't' been in a long time, I didn't get up to greet everyone around me. I simply listened around myself. I was still in a slight fog, not knowing where I was and what had happened recently. All I knew was I was safe, and thank god I was.

From my left, I heard two voices talking quietly. After a second, I placed those familiar voices to names and faces. Anthony and Ian. I smiled to myself. How great it felt to be back with them after so long. But wait…what had happened an hour ago? Or was it yesterday? To be honest, I had no idea how long I was out.

As I tried to piece everything back together in my scrambled head, I heard the door to the room open softly. _Who could that be? _Although I couldn't hear what Anthony and Ian were saying, I could make out their tone of voices. Anthony's seemed happy when the person entered the room; Ian seemed confused. Perhaps he didn't know who it was. Anthony introduced the person. Even thought I couldn't make out the name, Ian suddenly understood and his voice changed from confusion to joy.

Another voice appeared in the equation. It was feminine and one I had heard before. Out of all this confusion about who was who, I definitely knew this lady was the nurse that I had encountered before, most likely since I've been here. She spoke softly to Ian and Anthony, and they both sighed. They mumbled something to the third-partied man, then left the room with a slam.

Suddenly, I eyes burst open. _How could they leave me with someone I don't even know! _

In fear of everything that had happened the past weeks, I shot around to see who was standing in the room with me. As I did, my whole body stung with intense pain, especially near my hip. I cringed and put my hand over it and fell back onto the bed.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa!" He said as he rushed over to me. "Be careful, alright. Hannah? The doctors said that's a serious wound."

_Oh. My. God. _I thought speechless. _It can't be. No way._

But it was. When I looked up, I saw Jason McKeves stood right beside me, looking down with beautiful, yet concerned, eyes. He seemed reluctant, but took a deep breath, apparently gaining courage, and placed his hand down on to my hand that covered my hip. His hand was so warm and felt incredibly comforting. As he did, I looked down to my hip to see deep brown gauze covered all the way around my lower waist. Once I met his eyes again, he blushed and removed his hand. "Hi, Hannah." He whispered, sheepishly.

"Hi, Jason." I lamely whispered back. I was still shocked he came. "What…What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to make sure that you were ok. I'd given Anthony my number a while ago and he called me to say that you're back."

I smiled. "I see. Wait, when did you meet Anthony and give him your number?"

Jason thought. "Two Fridays ago." He concluded.

The smile quickly faded. _Oh, shit. Two Fridays ago! That's when he asked me out! That's why he went to our house; to see where I was. Oh, shit. _"Oh, Jason…I'm so sorry I wasn't there that day. I~"

Jason smiled that beautiful smile. "You don't have to explain, I know what happened." He comforted. "I actually went that day to see if they had found out anything. I was…well I was scared, Hannah. I was scared for you."

I looked down, embarrassed, but secretly flattered. Jason looked down to. Finally he said, "You might be wondering where Ian and Anthony are."

_Read my mind, _I happily thought. _He always does, doesn't he? _I nodded.

"They just left to get checked out. They both are pretty beat up from last night."

"Last night?" I perked. "So we've been here~?"

"~Only a couple hours, yeah." He finished. "I just got here actually."

I laughed at myself as I asked, embarrassed, "And here is?"

"Sacramento Hospital. You're only thirty minutes away from home."

I closed my eyes, relaxed. _How fantastic that was to hear. 'So close to home'. _

Jason took a deep breath from next to me. "Ok," he breathed. "I know this is awkward, and I don't mean anything by it, but could I….do you think you could~?"

Taking special care to make sure I don't harm myself more, I scooted gently to one side of my hospital bed. Jason blushed and laid next to me. He reached out a hand and stroked my hair. Tingles went down my body. "I was so scared, Hannah." Jason breathed. I laid my head onto his chest as he continued to run his fingers down my auburn hair. "I was terrified I would never see you again."

I grinned. "Same here. I was afraid I would never get that first date with you." I teased.

He laughed. "Don't worry, we can try that again. Soon, if you would like."

I looked up and smiled. "I would love that." Then, out of nowhere, I leaned in and kissed him. And to my surprise, he kissed me back. It was sweet and warm. My spine tingled all the way down to my feet. He ran his fingers through my hair as I did to him. When we finally pulled away, we locked eyes.

"I've been waiting a long time to do that for a long time." He said and kissed my forehead.

"Bet you anything I've waited longer." I teased. We giggled and I leaned in for another kiss, but was interrupted when the same lady from before came in. She cleared her throat to rudely break the moment. We turned simultaneously to the door way. Jason jumped of the bed as the nurse stared him down.

"Visiting hours are up," she said bitterly, judging him up and down.

"Oh," he replied sadly. "Alright then." As he gathered his stuff to leave, Jason gave me a quick good-bye peck and told me he'd be back tomorrow. My face grew hot and once I gained control of my emotions, I looked up at him and shot him a serene smile. I thanked him for coming, and he promised he would be back tomorrow. Once he left, the nurse come over and gave me some pain killers. She also put a brace boot on my ankle to let it heal. My whole leg stung as she threw it on, a little harshly to be honest. It was heavy and rather obnoxious to carry around, but it definitely made my ankle, let alone whole leg, feel better. As she began to leave, I thanked her for all she had done. In return, she shot me a death glance and glanced up and down. She murmured something like 'when I was a girl, boys didn't…' and stormed out. I couldn't help but laugh. _Pissing people off and annoying the crap out of everyone. Yup, that proves it. _I thought happily. _I truly am related to Ian Hecox._


	20. Chapter 20

**Ian's Point of View**

I huffed out of annoyance. We had been in the hospital room for minor injuries for about two hours now, and the doctors were still checking us out. They had finished looking over me about thirty minutes ago. After bandaging up my swollen hands where the cuffs were and icing down the big bump on my head, the doctors' curiosity overcame the politeness. They asked us what the hell we had gotten into. I glanced to Anthony and he glanced back. _What the hell do we even say? 'We went to basically a sex factory, pretended to be body guards to save my sister, but were discovered and knocked unconscious, kidnapped, and handcuffed, blind-folded, and duck-taped in separate rooms'. Even to me, that sounded unreal. _"We…uh…fell of a ladder."

The nurses skeptically glimpsed at each other. With a shake of the head and shrugs, they continued to examine Anthony. Anthony had pretty bad bruises to his hip and eye, and like me, had swollen hands, but besides that we were alright. Thank God.

"Alright, you may go." The nurse stood up and let us out of the room. We fast-walked out and headed back to Hannah's room. We had gotten a message that she had woken up, and we couldn't wait to see her.

We went down the hallway where her room was, but we were stopped by a doctor. "Mr. Hecox?"

"Yes?" I responded, wheeling around, tripping over myself over the loss of momentum.

The doctor reached out his hand and I shook it. After he and Anthony did the same, he said, "I'm Doctor Bradford. I've been looking over Hannah for the past few hours."

"How is she?" Anthony interrupted quickly.

"She's doing . . . ok." He sighed. "Her hip is not in very good shape. ."

"How bad?" I asked with concern.

"The knife wound was pretty deep into her right side. So deep that it almost reached her kidney. If the knife had been injected only one centimeter higher, it would have completely stabbed her kidney and Hannah would have lost it. She's a very lucky girl."

_I don't really know how LUCKY she really is…_

"We also found that she's very much malnourished. She's about ten pounds underweight than desired, and her bones are more brittle than normal. This was most likely why her ankle broke so easily. Although Hannah did take a hard fall, at the most her ankle should have just sprained, not completely fractured.

Besides those two things, cuts and bruises were found up and down her body. The thing that really caught my eye was her back. There are long and skinny healing cuts up and down her back. This may be the result of a whip, I'm afraid."

_Oh god…._ I thought. I was already beginning to feel ill.

"But mentally, there's a whole different story," Doctor Bradford continued. "Despite all she's been through, Hannah is very talkative and lively. A real pleasure to be around."

_Just like always. _I smiled. "Well, thank you, Doctor. Can we see her now?"

"Well, no." He replied. "Hannah's getting stitches in her hip right now and specifically asked if I could tell you two to come in after she's done. She said even she found it gross."

"Alright," Anthony sighed. "Well, thank you for telling us. We'll head inside once she's finished."

The doctor smiled and began to walk away. But before he did, he said, "Make sure you tell that girl I delivered the message and that it was a sure pleasure to meet her." He turned to me. "And make sure you give her a big hug from me, too. She's a very special girl, Mr. Hecox. And I must say, she is indeed a very, very lucky girl. One reason is she has such a loving family~" he motioned to Anthony and I. "~and that she's alive. A lot of terrible things happened, and it's a true miracle that she's here." And without a word, he left. At the end of the hall, he called. "She really is a sweet girl, Mr. Hecox and Mr. Padilla. It really was different without Hannah here, huh? What a sweet girl," he repeated, then turned a corner and walked out of sight.

"It's true," Anthony mentioned. "It really is a miracle that we've got her back."

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess it really is."

Suddenly, a flashback came to mind. I was in Hannah's room, the first night she was missing. I saw myself from an aerial viewpoint, looking down to see my knees to the hardwood floor and hands in a prayer position. My eyes were closed, but leading down from them were red streaks and teardrops. My own words whispered into my ear. _Please, God, help her. Keep her safe. I promise I will do my best to bring her home if you just keep her under your wing._

It had just occurred to me that we both kept up our side of the bargain. Anthony and I had brought Hannah home, and she was safe with us now, which truly was a miracle.

Another vision came over me. This time, I was looking down at Anthony and me sitting at our kitchen table. I was angry and frustrated, and Anthony was sitting there, taking it all. _Everyone should keep faith in God. _I yelled._ But He can't do anything 'down here' can he? He's not going to bring Hannah home. As much as I wish he could, God can't magically poof her here. Yeah, I've prayed too, but nothing happened. I don't know, I just feel like I'm losing my faith in hi~. _I was interrupted by Anthony's phone ringing. Was I really about to say I had lost faith? I thought back and realized that at the time, I really had lost all faith. I frowned at myself, but a smile overcame it.

_I guess it doesn't really matter what happened then. _ I figured. _What matters is what's happening now. I have to stay in the present and not worry about the past. It's time to take a step forward from this; from my lack in faith to this whole crazy adventure. It's time to regain my trust and live life again. Not just me, but for all of us._

And so, as I walked with Anthony back to the waiting room, I looked up past the ceiling and whispered, _Thank you._

* * *

><p><strong>Hey there! So there's one thing I wanted to quickly explain. Yeah, I'm christian, but that wasn't why I wrote the story lol. I realized alot of it came back to some christian concepts, and I do apologize for that lol. Wasn't my intention, and I guess I made one little reference and it kept adding, so this chapter might have been too much for the some of you, and if you are part of that some, ...well, my bad :D Promise that's it from now own :D<strong>

**Alright! Hope you enjoyed that! SO CLOSE TO THE END I CAN ALMOST TASTE THE BITTERSWEETNESS! Thanks for reading this far (And for reading this entirely to long Author's Note..). Can't wait for the next chapter to pop-up, and leave a review if you deem necessary! Alright, bye guys! Keep on smoshing :D**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hannah's Point of View**

"I feel fine," I answered. "I'm just really tired and really fricking bored."

Anthony, who was sprawled all across the foot of my bed, looked up from his DS. "You want us to leave so you can sleep?"

"Oh god, no." I laughed. "I'd be even more bored then." I was dressed in regular clothes again, thanks to Ian running home to get me some. My hip still stung even if I moved slightly, but I had eventually moved my legs from out from under the sheets and in front of me. They sat crossed on the bed while I played my DS. Anthony held his above his face while he raced me in Mario Kart. A sudden snore came from Ian from the corner of the room. Anthony and I laughed simultaneously. I looked up from my game to look back and forth from Anthony to Ian. They seemed still a little shaken and hurt, but I could tell they were trying their hardest to keep that from me. Me? Well, I was pretty shaken, too. But I was also clean, dressed, safe, and not being sold as a prostitute.

To be honest, I kind of half-lied to Anthony. I didn't want to sleep because they would leave and then I'd be super bored, that part was true. More of, however, I was afraid I would fall asleep and have continual nightmares of what had happened. I was even more afraid I would awake up and still be in that dirty cell I spent two weeks in.

Either way, I knew I would wake up and have my two best guys with me, helping me get back into the norm. And though it wouldn't be easy, getting back into the norm was something I was planning on.

Anthony interrupted my thoughts. "Passed you!" He laughed. "In your face!" He let out a very familiar and well done Kira laugh.

I giggled along quietly with him, but didn't really get back to the game. Anthony glanced up once more to me. He sighed and paused the game. I shot him a confused glance. "What was that for?" I asked.

He sat up and looked down to his feet. "Hannah?"

"Yeah?" I responded tentatively.

"I know you really don't want to," He began. _Oh crap…_I thought. _He wants me to talk about what happened when I was there, doesn't he? _ Anthony looked up at me and gave me a small smile. "You know where I'm going with this, don't you?"

_Is what I say in my mind projected on a billboard on my forehead or something? _I pondered angrily. _How does everyone know what I'm thinking!_ I nodded slowly and took in a deep breath.

"So," He began. "Do you think you could talk about it now?"

I looked down. "Look," I began. "I know the police would want to know what happened," I honestly told him. "But what happened…..there….no one could possibly understand how traumatizing it was. That's why I don't want to talk about it. You two know where I'm coming from, don't you? You guys were there."

"I know, Hannah. None of us will understand how horrible it was for you. And no one will try to force anything out of you that you don't want to say."

"I understand it might be important to talk to the detectives you spoke with, but I just feel like it wouldn't do any good. It's not like we need to go looking for the guy in charge of the whole operation. He's…." I couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence.

"Maybe not," Anthony agreed. "But that doesn't mean they can't help make sure this doesn't happen to any other girls. You see, if the police can collect more and more information on how something like this starts, and how it operates on the inside, they're more able to prevent more operations like this forming in the future. More girls could be saved. And they might be able to even bring some home."

'_We could bring some home?'_ This hit me like a ton of bricks. Olivia suddenly came to mind. If I could somehow help her come home from wherever the hell she was, I would definitely take that chance. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down my nerves. "Alright," I finally gave in. "Alright."

Anthony leaned in and gave me a big hug. I twitched as he squeezed my hip, but hugged him back. He recoiled and muttered, "Oh crap, sorry about that."

I smiled and shrugged. Anthony went over and friendly kicked Ian's foot to wake him up. "Get up, dude," He said. "I'm going to go find Detective Benson and Connors. I'll be right back. I think they said they'd be around the hospital."

* * *

><p><strong>Anthony's Point of View<strong>

"You guys can go get lunch if you want," Hannah said with a smile. "I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Ian asked. Hannah nodded and Ian and I left to the cafeteria. As the door closed, I could hear a faint voice of Detective Benson talking sweetly to Hannah. _She's in good hands._

About twenty minutes passed by. Ian and I finally ate some food. Extremely ravenous, the amount of food Ian and I bought together was three times the normal size we usually get; and even that is huge! People stared at us as we paid for the massive heap, but Ian and I just laughed it off. _Just like another Lunchtime. _I joked happily.

We talked as we ate, but only as much as you could as you lumps of pizza and salad are shoved down your throat. After only a few minutes, we finished up our food. I looked at the empty plate and Ian looked at me. We met sad, still hungry eyes and laughed. Ian got up to purchase more food to satisfy our non-ending hunger. While he was gone, my phone rang. I answered it after swallowing my last drop of Mountain Dew. "Hello?"

"Anthony? Yes, this is Detective Benson."

"Is there anything wrong?" I asked automatically.

She laughed slightly. "No, everything's fine. Detective Connors and I just found something rather interesting. There's been a huge hole in this case the entire time. Something all of us have over looked, and Connors and I might have found what it links to. You and Ian definitely want to hear this."

"We'll be right up!" I exclaimed and hung up. I stood up quickly and spun around to find Ian. He was walking back to our table with a few chocolate chip cookies in hand, along with one hanging out of his mouth. Without another word, I ran up to him and grabbed his arm. I dragged him out the cafeteria and into the elevator. Along the way his arms were flailing and I heard him mumble through the half-chewed cookie, "Waz goyng non?"


	22. Chapter 22

**Ian's Point of View**

"Just think," Connors said excitedly. "What one thing hasn't been put together in this case?"

"What one thing hasn't been connected to another?" Benson finished in the same manner.

I looked over at Anthony and he seemed just as confused as me. When I glanced to Hannah, she shrugged her shoulders to show she had no idea either. _What one thing wasn't connected? What do they mean?...Like what event that occurred during all this didn't fit into the puzzle created?...Well, we found out where Hannah was because of her phone location, so that can't be it.._

Then it hit me. _Phone_ caught my attention. My phone! How it was acting all funky and messed up. How Detective Benson saw it reacting the same way the father of Sarah Malone's had. "My phone." I muttered.

"Precisely!" Benson exclaimed. "Throughout this whole time, we knew there was some connection between the disappearance of Sarah Malone and Hannah because of the same way the phones were reacting when the abduction took place. Therefore, we knew that your phone acting so funny was not just coincidence."

"Yeah?" I still didn't understand where this was going.

"Well, we got some interesting information from Hannah when we asked her why she got into the car. She said that it looked like Anthony's car, which we had figured."

Connors continued, "But to this she said at the time, she was a little confused why Anthony was there. When we asked her why she said…" He motioned to Hannah to speak.

"I said that I had texted you, Ian, to come pick me up because it was raining. So when I say ANTHONY'S car there, I figured you might have sent him to come and get me." Hannah explained.

Detective Benson smiled with triumph. "You never got that text, did you Ian?"

"No," I said. "I didn't. My phone went all wonky at around 3:15ish."

"And the abduction took place at 3:26." Connors concluded. "If your phone stopped working properly at 3:15, who could have received the text from Hannah?"

"Oh my god," Anthony remarked from my left. "Whoever tampered with his phone must have gotten it."

"The driver who took Hannah got it." I finally connected the two pieces. "He was using the information from my find to know where she was going to be."

"So when Hannah texted you to come pick her up," Benson summarized. "The man received it, took a car in which he knew was recognizable to Hannah, went to the school, and did the deed."

"Oh my god." Was all I could say. How insane was this? And I thought Hannah getting plain kidnapped was bad enough. "How did he tamper with my phone?" I asked. To think that was the last missing link to this whole damn thing…

"That's one thing we're unsure about." Connors sighed. _Figures, _I thought. _We were so close. _"We know that he must have done it phone-to-phone, meaning a wire had to have connected the two. It couldn't have been done wirelessly, or else the hacking could be more easily traced.

"He had to have done it without anyone noticing," Benson said.

"But how?" I asked. "I'm almost always with my phone, and when I'm not it's at home, charging, while we're filming or something."

"So they must have done it when we were home." Anthony concluded quietly. The room fell dead silent and all eyes lead to Anthony. I tried to think of any other explanation, but no others came to mine. _This just keeps getting worse and worse, isn't it?..._

"How could they have gotten in?" I questioned. "WHEN could they have gotten in?"

"The day I went missing." A small coo came from the bed. We all turned to Hannah, who hadn't said anything this whole time.

"What?" Anthony and I asked simultaneously.

"When I left for school," she began. Her eyes closed as she tried to force the blocked memory out. "I found that the front door was unlocked. It never is in the morning because I'm the first one out of the house. But I didn't think much of it then, so I didn't say anything about it."

"But when could he have tampered with his phone?" Anthony thought aloud. "All three of us were in the house that night and morning."

Connors spoke up. "He must've come at night. When you guys were asleep."

My stomach flopped. To think that low-life son of a bitch was in our house, and right in my room. My fist tightened.

"So he came into our house," I summarized, "Tapped into my phone and waited for Hannah to text me. Since he tapped into my phone, HE received the text, not me. Afterwards, he took another Honda Civic, and…." That last part was implied.

Both detectives nodded. I looked over at Anthony to see his mouth hanging half open in shock. Hannah mocked his expression. _Holy shit…._

"So…Now what?" Hannah spoke up.

Detective Benson smiled. "Well, for you, young lady," she said. "Your adventure's over." Anthony, Hannah, and I couldn't help but slightly smile with happiness. "Now, Detective Connors and I have to find this unknown driver. Then we can start searching for Ms. Olivia Chang."

"Great," Hannah quietly said. I looked over to her. _Olivia Chang? _I mouthed. She winked and shrugged, which told me she'll tell me later.

Anthony and I stood up with Detective Benson and Detective Connors and shook their hands. We thanked them for everything they did, and all they said in reply was, "Just doing our job." With a smile and a job well done attitude, both detectives left the room. But as they walked down the hallway, Anthony and I heard the echo of Connors' voice. "Job nicely done, Padilla and Hecox. Job nicely done."


	23. Chapter 23

**Hannah's Point of View**

I took a final glance into the mirror. I finished curling my now short auburn hair to my shoulders. After applying black eye liner (which I found doesn't look too shabby on deep blue eyes), I forced my mascara to cooperate and not rub off on my cheek. I fluffed by cute blue lacy dress (it had been rather warm for a February in California) and fixed my white cardigan. After slipping on my brown high heeled sandals, I took one last look and thought, _Well world. This is what you get. Take it or leave it. But personally, _I grinned triumphantly. _I don't look too bad, if I do say so myself. World? I would take me if I were you!_

With my head held pretty high, I walked down the carpet hall into the living room while running my fingers down the hall. Anthony, who was sitting on the beige couch watching TV, jumped as I came in. He shot me back a hello as he frantically began to look for something. He eyed the TV and then me. I shot one eyebrow up as I leaned down to the floor to pick up the remote he was looking for. Before I handed it back, however, I averted his grasp at the remote and watched the TV to see what he was desperately trying to hide me from.

On the TV was Fox News on channel 7. The bottom of the screen read _Local Girl Kidnapped and Rescued from Sex Factory. _A video played showing this girl walking out of Sacramento Hospital struggling in crutches with two twenty-somethings. A voice over rang, "Blaise has not commented on anything to reporters, nor has Padilla or Hecox…" I raised both eyebrows to Anthony and he returned a guilty expression. I rolled my eyes. "It's been two months now. I hope they realize that."

"S-sorry." He muttered, embarrassed as I tossed him the remote back.

"Aw, whatever," I said honestly. "Doesn't matter. I just wish they would get the whole story straight."

"What do you mean?" He argued. "Sounds like they did."

"Yeah, about me." I replied. "But those news people left out the best part." We exchanged smiles as I walked into the kitchen. I grabbed a bagel and checking the time on the oven. (_Déjà vu?_) 8:40. _Hey! I'm actually on time today!_

I jumped onto the counter top and swung my legs back and forth. BOTH legs, might I add. Thank God I was able to get my stupid ankle book off yesterday. I silently giggled at the small tan line running around my knee. Even after only two months of having it on, I had spent so much time outside that I tanned a little from the sun. As much as I tried to put it off, I had found the experience those few months back were beginning to take a toll on me. This includes me unable to stay in a smaller place for a certain time. Therefore I found myself outside a lot.

My thoughts were interrupted by a familiar huff. I turned to see a sleepy and grumpy Ian. He softly glared at me from the hallway opening. I grinned and rolled my eyes as I jumped down from the counter and sarcastically sat down at the table. Ian mimicked my eyes and gave me a kiss on the head. "Morning."

Through a half chewed bagel I returned the phrase. I jumped off the chair and grabbed my messenger bag off the end of the table. "Where are you going so early?" Ian asked.

"Alli's heading to school early today." I told him. "I wanted to go with her."

"Alright, have a good day then." He replied. Then Anthony put on a high-pitched and naggy voice. "Have a great day, sweetie! Make good choices!"

I laughed and headed to the door. _God, we watch too many movies. _I reached out to the door handle but paused as I touched it. Another flashback began to pop into my head. Like every other day, I forced it out. _Eventually these day dreams will stop, _Dr. Bradford had said when I mentioned them the last day at the hospital. _Just give yourself some time to recover. _

I glanced behind me to Ian and Anthony who were talking about some Smosh stuff they needed done. They were both dressed in pajamas and drinking crappy coffee Ian somehow managed to create. I couldn't help but grin. _I may have not fully recovered yet, _I told myself. _I don't think any of us had. I still have these day-mares and wake up most of the time with night terrors, but all three of us had managed to fit back into the norm. Although it wasn't easy, we're back on the right track. And it felt damn good to be so._

I came out of my trance once Ian turned to see I hadn't left yet. I shook my head to bring myself out of it and bid both of them a good-bye. I stepped outside as the door slammed behind me. I was face to face with Alli as she was about to knock on the door. She smiled that wonderful smile to me and we hugged as a greeting. My (new!) phone yelled _Shut Up! _From my pocket, it playing the stupid message tone I had set.

"O-oh!" Alli teased. "Who in the world could that be, missy?"

"Oh, shut up!" I punched her lightly in the arm as we set off down the sidewalk. I reached into my pocket and open the message. It was, of course as Alli had guessed, Jason. _Morning, beautiful! _I could hear his sweet voice now. I began to respond while Alli's phone went off, too.

"O-oh!" I mimicked her. "Who in the world could THAT be?"

Alli blushed as she dug through her crowded messenger bag to find her phone. Her new boyfriend Alex's face popped up. I nudged her arm. "Yummy!" I joked.

"Ssh!" She cried, embarrassed. Alli quickly texted back as we made our way to school. With our steps in sync, (how could they not be, with both of us in Color Guard and all!) Alli and I interlocked arms and fell into the rhythm of the day.

My heart sunk. "They moved drama rehearsal to today?"

Alli frowned. "I'm sorry, Hannah. I could see if I could skip so I can walk home with you."

I forced a smile. "That's ok," I said. "I can walk home alone, it's cool."

"But I don't want you to!" Alli told me. "I don't want~!"

I smiled and took her hand. "Nothing's going to happen." I interrupted her.

"That's because I'll be there," a sweet voice rang like a bell behind me. I turned to see my boyfriend smiling down at me. He hugged me and put his arm around me. Alli giggled and said, "Aw, that's sweet! Are you sure you can walk her home today?"

"Well, I guess if I have to," he sighed sarcastically. I playfully nudged him with my elbow. He laughed and kissed the top of my head. "Ready to go?"

"Yup!" We turned down the hallway. I called back to Alli, "Do well, Alice! And stop going down all those rabbit holes!" Her laughed rang throughout the halls.

As the big red doors opened, Jason asked me, "So, how was your day?"

"Good," I automatically replied. "And you?"

"Awesome now." He said as he leaned down to kiss me. Once we finished I asked him, "Now? What about before?"

His face dulled a bit. "I don't know. I've just had this weird feeling all day." Jason shook his head and forced a grin. "But it's all good now that I've got my girl."

I laughed and hugged him tighter. His hand went from my shoulder down to my waist as we began walking home. As Jason and I always did, he teased me about something I had said. "Aw, you know I love you." Jason cooed as he hugged me by my waist. I flinched, but tried to hide it.

But because he's Jason, he noticed. "Oh, I'm sorry!" He cried.

I hid the pain streaming up and down my spine with a cute grin. "Whatever," I lied. "No big deal."

After a few more minutes of talking, Jason and I reached the fork in the road that lead to my neighborhood and the other to River Crest. Although it wasn't loud, I heard a small sigh come from Jason. I knew what it was about. Once you reached this fork in the road, it was only about ten minutes from my house. But to River Crest, it was about twenty minutes, and that didn't include how long it took you to reach Jason's house once IN River Crest. All and all, with walking to my house and then to his, it was about forty minutes.

Before we turned the corner to my house, I stopped him in his tracks. "What, babe?"

"You go on ahead home," I said. "I'll be fine. I just don't want you to have to walk all that way."

"But you shouldn't go alone." He reminded me. "I don't want you to."

"I'll be fine," I repeated and then kissed him on the lips. "I promise," I whispered in his ear.

He chuckled and placed my face in front of his. His beautiful dark brown eyes glimmered. "Alright," he whispered back. He pecked my lips and held up his index finger. Jason wagged it like a parent and said, "Make sure you call me when you get home, yes?"

I played along. "Yes sir," I chanted like a drill sergeant. After saluting, I turned and walked down Abbey Road. "Bye!"

Jason simply waved and blew a kiss. I returned it and faced front to head home. Still keeping an eye on my surroundings (like I had for a while now) I tried to keep myself calm as I walked myself home for the first time since I was back to school. It sounded really lame when thought, me being walked home, but to be honest, I didn't mind at all. Ian asked Alli and Jason (behind my back, of course) to keep an eye out for me and to take turns walking home with me every day. But I really didn't mind being treated like a nine year-old. Honestly, I was still frightened to be alone for a long period of time. I spent way too long alone and I didn't want to be so for quite a while.

Something interrupted my thoughts. I had that eerie feeling someone was watching me. Spinning around, I saw nothing but empty road of the neighborhood. _Must have been nothing_. I figured, but naturally my legs, my legs began to move faster. I faced front to see the corner I took to get to my street was about 30 feet in front of me. _Almost home,_ I thought and relaxed a little.

But it happened again. That same feeling over came me again. This time, I counted to three, then turned around once more. This time, I caught a flash of something. A…leg? Yes, someone's leg! This person had jumped behind a car. And whoever it was didn't want me to notice them. _A stalker, huh? _I humorlessly chuckled. _Well, let's see what this loser really wants with me._

In my heels, I clomped proudly over to the car were he hid. Once I got to the front of the car, I spoke aloud. "Yeah, I know you're there. Come out now. Why are you following me?" When no one responded, I let out a huff of frustration. I made my way to the back of the car. "What do I have to do to get creeps like you to just leave me~?"

I stopped as I faced the guy. He was about thirty years of age and crouched to the ground with He wore sunglasses on his face and a cameo hat on his head. _Oh my fucking god. It's…It's him. The driver._

I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. My heart swooped very high to very low. _No, _I thought quickly. _No, no, no, no! It…it can't happen again. IT CAN'T!_

"Oh my god," I mumbled breathlessly. "It's you."

All he did was stare back up at me, grinning with a crazed look in his eyes. "You bet your ass it's me, bitch." He slowly stood up and walked towards me.

* * *

><p><strong>OOOh cliff hangers! Woo! So yeah sorry about the abrupt ending. This chapter was actually about 1000 words longer (lol!) So I had to cut it for it to make more sense. Thanks for reading once again :D<strong>


	24. Chapter 24

**Hannah's Point of View**

"Oh my god," I mumbled breathlessly. "It's you."

All he did was stare back up at me, grinning with a crazed look in his eyes. "You bet your ass it's me, bitch." He slowly stood up and walked towards me.

I screamed and took off between two houses. Unfortunately, my heels didn't let me get very far until I tripped. I fell down, hard, onto the grass, hands first, followed by my head. I groaned and rolled over. The buckles to my sandals would not come undone. _Come on! COME ON!_

"Oh, I would stay right there, if I was you. We've got some things to talk about, don't we?" The driver caught up with me. He walked toward where I was on the ground, staggering as he walked. He gave a wheezy laugh and snorted as he tripped and almost fell. _Oh my god, he's mental!_

"What the hell are you doing here?" I breathed as I sat paralyzed on the earth.

"Weren't you listening, sweetheart?" He grinned a toothy smile. "We've got some scores to settle." The driver stood over me. He finished his sentence by slamming his foot onto my right lower leg. With my ankle still weak, it hurt like hell. I let out a yelp.

"What…..scores?" I mumbled through cries. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone pass through the space between the two houses. He held a large stick in his hand and began to sneak up behind the man. I knew him from anywhere. _Jason! _I didn't make eye contact, knowing that would give him away. He merely put his fingers to his lips to indicate I should keep quiet. Slowly but surely, he made his way behind the driver.

"You and your dumbass brother got me on the police's wanted list, didn't you?" He glared down on me. "You're little miraculous escape got me into a lot of trouble. I want revenge."

I struggled underneath him. "What the hell, you crazy person! Get the hell off of me! What do you want from me?" I screamed.

At that moment, the driver reached into his side pocket and pulled out the same gun he used against me so long ago. "Just like I said," He cocked the gun. "Revenge."

_WHAM!_

Jason put his baseball swing to work as he whammed the stick right into the driver's head right as he pulled the trigger. I screamed as the bullet whizzed past my ear and my hair, leaving a hole in the ground. Jason ran over to me and dragged me up off the ground. We sprinted into the woods that lay right behind the house. I tried to keep up as I pulled off the sandals while hopping on one foot to get up. In an echo, Jason and I heard, "I'LL GET YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Running steps followed along with warning shots.

I pulled Jason in a direction of a tree with low branches. He let me climb up first, and I did with velocity. Once on the top branch, we hid between the leaves. As the footsteps grew louder, I reached into the pocket of my messenger bag for my phone. I dialed 911 and turned the volume down all the way. I heard a feminine voice pick up, but I didn't respond and just let the phone call continue. "What are you doing, Hannah?" Jason loudly whispered. "An~!"

I clasped my hand over his mouth once the footsteps stopped. Leaves rustled as the man right below us spun around to try and find where the voice had come from. Apparently, the driver found the source as he turned to the right and ran through the wooded forest. Once he was far enough away, I quietly exhaled and pulled my hand away. He opened his mouth to speak, but I quickly put a finger to mine to shush him. After a second, Jason nodded his head. I redialed 9-1-1.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

I quickly gave her my name and what was happening. The lady gasped and asked if we were alright. I huffed out of frustration. _Really? What does it sound like to you? _"Yeah, yeah, we're fine. But we need help. Right. Now." I whispered into the speaker. She dispatched officers and they were on their way.

"They'll be there in ten minutes tops." The lady told me. I quickly thanked her and hung up.

_Ten minutes. _I mouthed to Jason. He nodded and we sat up in the tree for about five more minutes. Every sound that came from below made us tense up and flinch. Finally, at the eight minute mark, the sound that I dreaded most emerged. The crunching of leaves grew louder and louder. Then he came into sight. The driver looked up and down through each bush and tree. Soon, the next tree he would check would be ours. I couldn't help it. I began to panic, and this cause the branch we sat upon to shake. One single leaf fell. The driver noticed it and smirked evilly. "I knew this day would end with a happy ending." He cried as he strolled underneath the tree and glanced up. Jason and I exchanged worrisome and hopeless looks. His gun pointed up words to right between my eyes. "You first," he laughed. "I'll make sure HE has to watch."

_This is it. I'm done. _I closed my eyes and prepared, my hand grasped onto Jason's and squeezed.

_POW! _

The guns' fire echoed throughout the woods.

Followed by a thud on the ground and the words, "Sacramento Police Department! You're under arrest! Dave, I got him!" _What?.._

When I opened my eyes, I looked down to see the driver laying on the ground with a police officer toppled on him. Many other police officers ran in the woods and into the area. But that's all I saw as the momentum of the bullet that had once again just barely missed me and my adrenaline added up, which caused me to lean back too far, thus making me fall right out of the tree with a thump. _Well, ow….._

An officer ran over to me to see if I was ok. I was about to respond I was fine when an unwanted and unpleasant feeling emerged from my stomach. My body had just become aware that the adrenaline of the entire event had run out, leaving it with a feeling of soreness shock. My stomach growled. I ran over to a nearby bush that was out of the way and far enough from other people and vomited into it. _Oh, gorgeous, Hannah. Very graceful._

Embarrassed, I turned around like nothing had happened once finished. The same officer came over and asked his question again. I breathed heavily, still in shock on what had happened, and nodded. I walked back over to Jason, who was now back on the ground and talking to an officer. When he finished, he quickly turned to me. "Hannah! Are you ok? You just~!"

I squeezed my eyes shut. "~don't say it." I interrupted, then reopened my eyes. "I know, super graceful, huh?"

Jason chuckled. "Whatever, just as long as you're ok." He pulled me in for a hug and repeated, "You're ok."

"How did you know?" I asked him as I pulled away. "Where did you come from?"

"I realized I left something at school." He explained. When I turned around to head back, I saw that creep ass following you." Jason gestured toward the man on the ground who groaned. "When you saw him and he chased you, I chased HIM."

"Well, thank you. If you hadn't helped, I would've been… he would have…" I couldn't finish the sentence, for my emotions came over me and I began to tear up. Jason shushed me and pulled me close as cried. He comforted me perfectly as I gripped onto his shirt. He kissed my head and rocked me back and forth.

Cops questioned us on what had happened. Since I was unable to utter a single word, Jason did most the talking, explaining in full detail. Once he finished, I was asked to identify whether the man that had chased us was the man in the car that one horrific day. I took one long glance at the tackled man as he lay there. His eyes that read anger and craze met mine. His sunglasses were gone, but the cameo hat lay a foot from his head. _To think it all started and ended with this bastard. _"That's him. I'm sure of it." I told the cop without taking my eyes of the driver.

The cop nodded and sent the driver into the back of a cop car after informing me they had already called Ian and Anthony. "Thank you." I said. The officer nodded in response, and drove off with the man in the back of the car. He remained eye contact with me the whole way out of site. _See you in fifty years, you son of a bitch. _I thought triumphantly.

Ian and Anthony came running only a few minutes later, due to our house being only a block away. Paramedics were still checking up on Jason and me when they came. "Hannah!" Ian called. I turned away from the medical who was patching up the scratches on my arms to see my brother collide into me with a gigantic hug. "Ian!" My words were muffled while I was pressed against Ian.

"What happened? Are you ok? Where is he? What did he do?" Questions shot from Ian's mouth a mile an hour. Once he stopped questioning me, I answered most of his hundreds while he glanced up and down me for bruises and bumps. Meanwhile, Anthony was over with Jason seeing if he was ok while Jason also explained what happened. Ian must've overheard what he said, for he gasped. "Wait, you what?"

"You heard him, Ian." I said with a slight smile. "Jason….he saved my life today."

Ian broke eye contact with me and stared at Jason. He looked with eyes he had not looked with before. Finally, Ian walked over to Jason. Instead of making sure Jason was alright like he had done with me and Anthony had done with Jason, Ian put out his hand. Anthony came over to me and asked me how I was. I gave him the same response I had given to Ian. "I'm fine…I'm fine…."

"Thank you, Jason," Ian said while I was talking with Anthony. Jason took his hand and shook it.

"For what, sir?" Jason questioned while shaking with a firm grasp.

Ian's eyes glimmered with tears as he spoke. It obviously was hard for him to even say those words. "Without you, Hannah would be….well, she would be dead right there at that spot. I may not have shown it, but I underestimated you, Jason McKeves. Thank you for saving my sister's life. Thank you for being a man."


	25. Chapter 25

**Hannah's Point of View**

"Wait, it's due tomorrow?" I yelled over to Alli on the phone.

"That's what Mr. Garrison said," Alli's voiced buzzed on the speaker phone. "I don't get it though. Why would he assign a due date on an essay a day we don't have him. Tuesday's an 'A'day right?"

"And we have him on a 'B' day," I concluded. "I swear to God, none of our teachers have their heads screwed on right."

Alli laughed. "I know! Why would a history teacher assign a paper on~?"

"~Wait!" I interrupted and shushed her. When Alli asked what was wrong, I answered. "Do you hear that?"

Alli listened from the other line for a few seconds. "I don't hear anything, Hannah."

"Exactly. Ian and Anthony ARE home."

Alli took a few seconds to respond. "Ok, I'm sorry. I have no idea where you're going with this. Ian and Anthony are home. So?"

"When they're home, are they ever quiet?" I sarcastically asked as I rose from my bed. The shifting caused my color guard flag to fall behind my bed. _Ugh, I have to move that. _I complained. _That's like the fifteenth time this week it's fell. _As I reached down, Alli answered. "Well, no."

"And what does it tell us when they're quiet?" I lead her on as I walked over and leaned my cello case gingerly against the wall.

"Something's terribly, TERRIBLY wrong with the world." Alli laughed.

"Right," I agreed with a smile. "So, I'm going to head off and see what this is all about."

"Alright, talk to you later, honey!" Alli added as the phone clicked off. Quiet as a mouse, I crept outside my room, closing the door with a small _click_. From the hallway, I listened for voices. They came from the living room, but they were too muffled for comprehension. Curiosity overtaking my will to stay out of it, I slowly walked down the hall to the living room. I peeked my head over to Ian and Anthony, who were sitting on the couch simultaneously holding a folded letter. _What could that be?_

Trying to see what the letter read, I placed weight onto my left foot, ultimately causing the floors beneath me to squeak. Ian and Anthony spun around to find me sneaking in, causing me to blush in return. "Sorry," I managed to mumble.

"Well, we were about to call you anyway," Anthony responded while receiving a look from Ian that told him they weren't. "Come here, Han." I walked over at sat on the opposite beige couch. Anthony tugged the letter from Ian's hands and handed it to me. _What could it be to get this kind of reaction from Ian? _I pondered.

On the top of the letter, it read the two words I had been dreading for a while now.

_Court Summons. _My heart seemed to sigh. _Oh, you've got to be joking. Can the world just give me a break? _"A court summons." I murmured. When neither of them responded, I sighed. "Well, I guess I can't say I'm surprised. Is it for…?"

"The driver, yes." Ian finished. "His name is Alex Perry, and his trial is Sunday next week. Since you were~" Ian gulped as he forced out the words. "~the, well you know, victim you were asked to testify."

"And Ian, being your legal guardian, was asked if they had the permission to allow you to." Anthony continued. "AND, him being the awesome guy that he is, wanted to know how you felt about it."

This caught me off guard. How do I respond to this? Of course, I knew Ian would ask how I felt, but what do I say? Yeah, I want to see this guy rot behind bars, but how do I face a court full of people that'll judge me before, during, and after I testify? What if I….screw up? Say something wrong, and somehow by magic Perry goes free?

No, my realistic side pulled through. There's no way he could go free, and I know he knows it. He's going to spend 50+ years behind bars for what he did to me and my family. And if testifying makes sure this happens, I was willing to suck up and do it. Once I explained myself to both of them, my words added up to a 'yes, I'll do it.'

Anthony and Ian smiled. "Well, good." Anthony said as he rose from the couch. "Now that that's out of the way, I bid you all a good night." And with a sarcastic bow, he left the room.

Automatically, I crawled over the couches and laid where Ian was sitting, my head placed onto his lap. He began to stroke the ends of my ginger hair and sighed. "That's pretty ballsy of you, Hannah." Ian eventually said, breaking the silence. I half-smiled and closed my eyes. "Dudes got to do what a dudes got to do." I replied.

Ian leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. He placed his head against mine and said, "Mom would have been damn proud of you. Not just for this, but for everything you went through. You're brave, Hannah. The bravest person I know."

I locked eyes with him. "She's proud of you too, Ian." When he returned a confused look, I explained. "You're ten times braver than me, Ian. You and Anthony. What you did for me was….unheard of. Unspeakable."

"We did it because we love you, Hannah." Ian replied with a smile. "You're our sister, and we're a family, as _Family Matter_y and cheesy it sounds, it's true."

I sighed and paused for a moment. "You know you did keep your promise to Mom, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"You promised her you'd always be there for me. And even when the last seconds came, you were." Ian's eyes went blurry. They read that he knew it too.

Ian sniffed at patted me on my shoulder. "Alright you. It's almost midnight, you need to get to sleep."

I nodded and sat up from his lap. As I headed back to my room, inside I screamed, _Ha! He forgot tonight! Yes!_

"Oh, wait!" Ian called while I was in the hallway. "I almost forgot! Go get the scar cream, we haven't done that today!"

I moaned and cried back, "Oh, come on, Ian! It's so gross and it smells weird. Can we just do it tomorrow? It won't hurt if we miss one day!"

"I'm not stupid, Hannah," Ian responded with a laugh. "That's the same thing you said this morning."

_Damn! _"Pleeease!" I pleaded.

"Do you want to have those scars on your back forever?" Ian teased.

_Damn-damn! _Giving in, I cried back. "Fine…" With a groan and complaints in my head, I sluggishly walked to my room and opened the drawer to my dresser. The smell already began to ooze. I gagged as I picked it up. As I walked back to Ian, I called throughout the quiet house, "Just wait until you burn yourself on the teapot again, Hecox. Just. You. Wait."


	26. Chapter 26

**Hannah's Point of View**

The hand reached out and gripped onto my long ponytail. It jerked backwards, bringing me with it. I screamed for help and gripped my head. The hand dragged me backwards even though I planted my numb toes onto the cold concrete. "Get off of me!" I cried, spazing from side to side. "Someone help me!"

Suddenly, I looked ahead of me to see a tall figure in the distance. His dark brown hair almost covered one eye and he had his hands in his pockets for he was extremely bored. "ANTHONY!" I cried to the man. "HELP ME! HELP ME!"

Anthony didn't move a centimeter, just stood in place, watching me being pulled away. His eyes were glassy and read complete unawareness. "ANTHONY!" I cried again. "WHY WON'T YOU HELP ME?"

He opened his mouth to say something, but a figure that appeared out of thin air stopped him. Ian popped up beside him, and put a friendly hand on Anthony's shoulder. Anthony closed his mouth which formed into a smile. They both looked at me struggling in the distance. All they did was wave their hands, saying good-bye. "Let go, Hannah." Their voices rang together. "Let go. Bye, Hannah."

My name echoed throughout the air. It bounced off different directions, shooting at me from all around the darkness. I looked down at my feet to see they met a pier of some sort. The hand behind me dragged harder, forcing me to move faster. "Get off of me! Ian! Anthony!"

My foot hit the edge of the pier. Half of it was hanging off the edge. "Ian! Help me, please! Ian! IAN!"

One last tug pulled me off the earth. I fell what must have been a forty foot drop. I screamed as I free fell into the abyss. I looked up and saw the edge of the pier quickly fade into black. I was falling, but could not see anything around me, including the ground. Anthony and Ian's voices still echoed through the fast-blowing air. "Hannah….Hannah….Hannah."

I flipped and turned in the falling air. My eyes began to adjust to the extreme darkness. I was beginning to see brown rock surrounding the hole. Once I looked back down, however, I met the same color of the walls. The ground snuck up on me, and I collided with it in full force.

I had hit the ground, and at that instant, I sharply awoke from my dream, looking up to see Ian shaking my arms and calling my name. "Hannah! Hannah! Wake up!"

My pulse was racing and I had sweat dripping down my face. I gasped for air. _Just a dream…Just another dream…_

As I began to calm myself down, Ian gently sat down onto the bed. "Another bad dream?"

I sighed and nodded, whipping the sweat off my brow. Ian hugged me and said with a calm and soothing voice, "Well, it's alright. You're ok now."

I smiled. "Yeah, I know. It was just a dream. But, thanks Ian."

"Yup!" He jumped off the bed energetically. _Same old Ian. _I looked at my alarm clock to see it was 7:45. "What are you doing bouncing around this early on a Saturday?" I asked with a yawn.

"I couldn't sleep last night," Ian explained. "Too nervous for today. Don't you remember what today is?"

My chest tightened. _The trial, _I realized. "Oh," I mumbled, suddenly nervous.

"Don't sweat it, kiddo." He comforted. "You'll be fine. We'll be right behind you through it all, ok?"

I smiled shyly, only slightly reassured. "Alright." I lied through a grin.

Ian smiled and checked his phone for the time. "We're out of here in thirty minutes."

"Ok," I untangled my legs from the bed sheets and went to my closet, picking out a nice and pretty formal dress. After putting it on, my mood became even sourer once I realized it was the only really nice dress I owned and it was itchy and very uncomfortable. Sighing at the fact I had no idea how long I would actually have to wear the dress, I put on black high heels (also nice, but also irritatingly uncomfortable) and headed to the bathroom to fix my makeup and hair. Once my auburn hair was straightened down as far the bob hairstyle would give, I picked up the mascara. When my eyes met the mirror again, I took a long look at myself. I noticed things I had before, but as a larger whole. I was a short, teenage girl in high school who dances in the winter and does color guard in the spring. I was your average 15 year old in retrospect. But inside, I felt much different. On a Saturday morning, instead of waking up at noon and playing video games until dinner, I was up at eight preparing to head off to court for the trial of the man who kidnapped me. _As much as this sucks, _I thought. _You got to do what you got to do. And right now, I have to make sure this bastard serves hard time for what he did for me, and who knows who else. I have to make sure he can't do this to anyone else ever again._

With a deep breath, I raised the mascara to my face. When it slowly made its way to my eye, I loud knock on the door made my hand jump and mascara to go into my eye. "Ow! God~!"

"Hannah, you ok?" Anthony's voice called from the hallway.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I responded, rubbing my eye. "What's up?'

"It's almost 8:30. Are you coming?"

Before I answered, I turned to the mirror for a final look. _I looked nice, _I thought. More of, I looked ready for this. "Yup." With a final deep breath, I opened the door, followed Ian and Anthony into the car, (both looked quite nice and different from their usual jeans and a Smosh t-shirt) and headed out without another word.

The Court Hall was a tall building about an hour from our house. It was big and white, with concrete steps running up to the doors. Sketchy people and others in suits (who I guessed were their lawyers) stood around, talking frantically. Overall, the place kind of freaked me out.

I looked over to my left to see Anthony, who looked as freaked out as me. We met eyes and exchanged nervous glances. With a raise of the eyebrows and a deep breath, all three of us made it up the long row of stairs.

Once in the building, we found our court room where the trial was to be held was on the seventh floor. And, because we are just that lucky, the elevator was out of order. "Aw, crap!" Ian sighed. We all quietly laughed at our terrible luck and headed over to the side of the building. Once I opened the door to the staircases, I glanced up to the top of the stairs. The journey seemed endless and tiring. We all sighed and met each others' eyes.

Suddenly, a smart idea popped into my head. I grinned a mischievous smile as I took another gander up the stairs and outside to make sure no one was looking. Once done, I slowly took off my four-inch heels and held them into my hands. Ian and Anthony laughed, and then looked to each other. Soon enough, they both took of their shoes and also held them into their hands. Smiles and relaxed expressions finally grew on our nervous and tensed faces, ejecting some humor into the scary moment.

As we headed up the stairs, I couldn't help but let the nervous and panicked feelings flow back in._ What if you mess up? _That voice rang in my head. _What if he goes free? What if he tracks you down again and finishes what he started?_ My eyes grew in fear.

Anthony must have noticed. His face became sympathetic. I didn't notice that he had silently reached down for my hand, which he held intertwined with his fingers. This pulled me out of my thoughts. Anthony, not being a very touchy-feely person, never did this with really anyone. I looked up at him, and Anthony looked back down at me and smiled. I returned the same expression and faced front again, extremely comforted as it made the nervous voice silent.

On the seventh floor, we all stopped in place as we read the door that said, _Court Room 301. _This was it. The last part of this whole crazy adventure was about to end right behind this door. I suddenly felt overwhelmed with it all, as if the whole journey swiftly rested back onto my shoulders. I exhaled a shaky breath, one that you do after a long cry. This was it.

A small but noticeable squeeze of reassurance came from Anthony's hand. I grinned softly and sighed. Ian's hand went to my shoulder. I looked up at him and he returned my smile. "It's ok," he said softly. "We're right behind you the whole way."

"And," Anthony continued as I turned to him. "After this, it's over, Hannah. It's finally over."

I couldn't help but let small tears of joy and relief come to my eyes. _It's finally over, _I repeated.

Ian's phone beeped. He went to check it and turned off the alarm. "Time to go." Ian said quietly.

"It's now or never." I said to both of them. They both nodded and opened the door to the court room. Hand in hand, we all took in a deep breath and walked inside.


	27. Author's Note

And with a happy but heavy heart, I click upload 'Final Chapter', and select 'Complete.'

Holy….shit…

We're done.

Honestly, this is insane for me. 32,826 words of a story I wrote. I know what you're thinking: Wow_, Katie, get over yourself. So you finished a story. Big whoop_. Well, for me it is. I've written a lot of (crappy lol) stuff in my days, and not once have I finished anything. I've gotten close, but I haven't had any motivation to finish.

So what made this novella so different?

Q: The Characters?

A: Nope! All of my writings (sad to say) have been fanfictions. Yes, I am THAT cool.

Q: The plot?

A: No, I wouldn't say so. I've had this idea in my head for a while now, but never really put it onto paper. I probably would have given up like all the others without my true motivation.

Which is what, exactly?

You guys :D

Without you guys, reviewing and following my story, I never would have accomplished something like this. I would have stopped around the three thousand mark, like all the others. But since I forced myself to put it up online ('you're only as great of a writer as people say you are!'), I've kept trucking through. I was terrified I would get some crappy and assholish reviews and remarks from people, but my sister (who is also a fanfiction-loving person!) convinced me that the people on here were otherwise. And how right she was.

There has been SOOO much positivity from you guys, so much support from this Smoshy community, and I CAN NOT thank you enough. You have been absolutely wonderful, and although I may not know you :D, you have made a difference in my writing career, my self-confidence, and most importantly, in my life (aww, here we go again with the Bill Cosby special…)

So, with a heavy heart but a proud one, I bring the adventurous tale of Hannah Blaise and the Smosh boys to a close. From the bottom of my heart, I hope the story of our favorite internet duo brought you entertainment and excitement (and something to do when procrastinating on homework). Through it all, I just wanted to make sure you all knew I could not have endured this adventure of my first novella without you. You were and are my motivation to write, and you've given me goal set, and now, a goal accomplished. Overall, thank you for making me a writer.

So, until next time (which will not be long ;)) I wish you all adieu.

-Katie


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